Demona and MacBeth, Part One: Alone
by RogueDragon and Nebulan
Summary: Author: Nebulan.. 6 years after the serise ends, some rebel Children of Oberon have started attacking Gargoyles for unknown reasons. Demona finds herself flung into the middle of the chaos and also has to face some of her inner demons as well.
1. Chapter 1: The Fays

_**Alone Chapter 1: The Fays.**_

_(Date: May 2004. It's been 6 years since the show ended.)_

"And so the power of government was transferred to William and Mary peacefully," MacBeth finished up his lecture on the English struggle. "This was known as the Glorious Revolution because there was no shedding of blood, remember that, you will be tested on it." MacBeth, known by the students by his current legal name Mr. McDuff, was a entertaining teacher. To the juniors of this school in a suburb of New York City, MacBeth taught his European History Class as if he experienced it himself. "Now, we have a few minutes left of class, does anyone have any questions?"

Sarah raised her hand anxiously. "Mr. McDuff, Mr. McDuff!" She implored, "There's a question I've been wanting it ask: Are you a descendant of _the_ McDuff?"

"I was wondering if anyone had any questions about English History..." MacBeth rolled his eyes with a chuckle, "Did Chelsea in second period tell you to ask?" He grinned in a teasing manner, "No, my mother changed her name from Agnes Schnachenpfifferhausen (name created by Sarah Grace Adams) to Janice McDuff during WWI to hide her German nationality." Snickers were heard over the class when the bell rang. "Remember to read up on Oliver Cromwell for tomorrow's quiz!"

He had no reason to hurry home that evening, so MacBeth corrected his papers in the quiet of the empty school. He looked up as he stepped out of the school, checking the sky as had become his habit. Find nothing, he decided to walk home instead of calling for one of his thugs to pick him up. He took the long way. He calmly walked past an anti-Gargoyle protest at the police station. His students may have seen him on TV supporting gargoyles, but other than that, he usually avoided gargoyle politics. He strode on by the Erie Building, looking up to see blasts of light and magic coming from hundreds of stories above, he paid little attention, it wasn't his business... anymore. He took a side trip though Central Park where he enjoyed the peace and from there went home. He relaxed in his bed but stared into the darkness for a long time before falling asleep.

MacBeth awoke, startled at the sound of his window being forced open, instinctively he grabbed his gun. "Who goes there!" He demanded, "Show yerself!"

A winged figure replied with an English accent, "Calm down, chap! Sir Arthur and I need yer help, as does the world!"

MacBeth sat up groggily. "And what has the world done for me!" MacBeth demanded.

"Come now, old boy" Griff begged, "You promised your loyalty to King Arthur, do it for him and myself at least."

MacBeth rubbed his eyes and than tiredly grabbed his guns and things, "What's going on?"

MacBeth and the Griffin-like gargoyle arrived at a battle of huge proportions. It was huge primarily because there was a great green woman taking up a few blocks of downtown Manhattan. Apparently, a fay, or magical child of the fairy king Oberon, appeared out of nowhere and started attacking the gargoyles who lived atop the tallest building in all of New York, the Erie Building, mansion of millionaire David Xanatos.

Goliath's gargoyle clan called out for any allies to help. They called out for the subway clan of mutants, the cold clan of cybernetic gargoyles and King Arthur and Griff. David Xanatos immediately called out his Iron Clan of Mechanical Gargoyles which he had built out of iron for the purpose of battling such magical creatures, for iron was their only weakness. His seven year old son, Alexander, used his magic, aided by his mentor Puck, as well.

The fay was known as Eris, or the Greek goddess of discord. She seemed unstoppable. She seemed uncaring to the lives of any who got in the way and so there were already civilian injuries. The hardest part was getting through her dark henchmen, made of pure magic, to get to her. The gargoyle allies had the iron to battle her, but the battle was not in their favor.

Soon after MacBeth arrived, he learned that Xanatos had lost most of his robots and two members of his goon squad were mortally wounded. Broadway, Brooklyn and Matt Bluestone had been severely injured and sadly Fionnuala (Puck's girlfriend) had been killed. The devastating battle had been going on all night, it was now after 4:00 AM.

One of Eris' henchman grabbed Lexington. MacBeth was coming to his aide but a blast from another henchman hit the whole group, taking out the first henchmen and then continued to focus his attack on Lexington and seemed to ignore MacBeth, who was throw aside in the blast. MacBeth hurried to free the young yellow-green gargoyle of his attacker. Lex then straightway rushed to save Liberty (his girlfriend) from fire. MacBeth noticed that event repeat itself, it seemed only Goliath's clan of gargoyles and Griff were being hit. However, Eris was taking out whoever stood in her way of the gargoyles.

After freeing Lexington of the Henchman, MacBeth went to aide Goliath, Elisa, Angela, Puck and Alexander.The others had given them a opening to take on Eris and stop her murdering, and maybe even find out her purpose.

MacBeth noticed that Elisa was nervous about approaching the magical deity. "Fear not, Detective." MacBeth assured her. "'Tis the Gargoyles they are after!"

With the vote of confidence she jumped out into the line of fire and starts shooting the iron bullets that Xanatos had given her. As they got closer, Puck and Alexander gave Goliath and Angela cover as they charged with iron chains and weapons. MacBeth and Elisa stayed behind as back up incase they failed. In the corner of MacBeth's eye he saw a familiar silhouette, staying out of the fight. He paid little attention to her because she didn't matter to him anymore.

Seeing Goliath and Angela just before they could attack her, Eris struck Angela, without a care for her life. Goliath became distracted out of concern for his daughter and raced to catch her. The silhouette screeches like a cat and raced out of her corner to save her daughter.

After she set her purple daughter down, the red-headed, blue gargoyle turned to Goliath, "Watch over our daughter," and without another word, she grabbed some iron weapons and screeched with rage of revenge toward Eris. Elisa and MacBeth jumped at the chance to help, King Arthur joined them.

"Wait!" King Arthur called to Demona, "We must work together!" knowing it best for Angela, she reluctantly came back to listen to the plan, eyes glowing red with anger. Anyone who tries to kill her kind, especially her daughter, was an enemy to her, even if they were her enemy's enemy. Demona, filled with rage toward Eris, didn't seem to notice that involved in the plan were Elisa and MacBeth, two of her most vowed enemies.

"You two," King Arthur pointed to Demona and MacBeth, who had been his enemies when he first met them on Avalon, "Distract her and drain as much energy as you can. Do you have any iron weapons for him, Detective," Elisa handed both Demona and MacBeth iron weapons. "We" Referring to him and Elisa, "will try to restrain her from behind."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to have them work together," Elisa asked King Arthur as they went around the roof of the building to where Eris' huge figure controlled her henchmen.

"They are immortal, I thought they were the perfect choice." responded King Arthur.

"Yeah, but they hate each other, they could kill each other over there, we need them."

"They know that. That we need them, that is. Honor and helping friends is more important to MacBeth than suicide and Demona is concerned for her daughter."

Sneaking forward, Demona and MacBeth started firing at Eris from behind a wall. Eris soon became bored with their game from behind a wall and started blasting other gargoyles. Soon Eris would see King Arthur trying to thwart her plans and would kill them even though they were human. MacBeth knew he needed to distract her attention and the two of them hiding behind that wall were not doing the trick.

"'Tis the gargoyles she wants!" MacBeth declared and shoved Demona into the open with a kick. "This is going to hurt," he said as he braced himself for the pain that would soon follow. The injury Demona would bare would have killed her had she not been under a spell that links her to MacBeth, making them immortal. MacBeth, being so near her, cried out in pain as they shared the damage the blast caused.

When MacBeth recovered he started firing rounds, draining energy until he too was blasted. He and Demona were thrown by the explosion over the streets below into a hole blown into the next building over, stories up. They were out of the battle for now. Both were too injured to help much further in the battle anyway. Demona was still out, so MacBeth started tending to his wounds. Things were quieter outside, he began to wonder if that was a good or a bad sign. Granted, those were his allies outside, but he had grown too accustom to losing friends.

He sat back at that time to laugh. Here he was, sitting by his life long enemy. They had worked together, to accomplish the same goal, though not the same motives. That hadn't happened in almost a millennia. He helped to save his friends, she wanted to save her daughter, probably the only thing now in the world her dark heart cared about.

Demona began to stir, she heard his laugh and became angry.

Glowing eyes and crying like a cat she lurched forward onto MacBeth, "You! You shoved me into the line of fire!" Her claws immediately started after him. He caught her arms and wrestled her to the ground until he had her pinned.

"Ha, I know ye too well!" He laughed. She was too weak to go further. "Eris was only interested in slaying gargoyles, dohn look at me for being prejudice, 'twas her idea! Besides, she canna kill you, even if she could I would be terribly offended if she took that honor from me!" Demona growled at this.

"Why _haven't_ you killed me?" She spat in anger through her tightly clenched teeth.

"Another time, soon though, I promise. Now, I have a duty to fulfill to King Arthur." And with that MacBeth left Demona and went to go see who was winning.

King Arthur and Elisa had successfully contained Eris with iron chains. Restrained, and powerless due to the control of the magical beings on the gargoyle's side of the fight. Her henchmen were now easy to stop with the number of people on the gargoyles' side. As the groups were pulling together their numbers, Fox Xanatos summoned her mother.

"Sorry about all this dear," Titania, the Queen of Fairies said to her daughter, "she was arrested for her violent protests both in Greece and in Avalon, we will be sure to better confine her, but there was someone else involved in her release, we're starting investigations now on Avalon." As Titania left, she took Eris with her. As they left, all of Eris' henchmen disappeared into oblivion.

Matt Bluestone and Xanatos' goon squad members were rushed to the human hospital but the rest were left to what Xanatos could provide. The injured were aided by who David could hire in the mansion. Integration of gargoyles into society was still difficult, even though some considered them heros.

Alexander was able to heal Broadway, Brooklyn and others at least to the point where they could survive until the sun could heal them, Angela would need a few weeks recovery but she would live...there wasn't a whole lot Puck, Alexander or the others could do, they didn't have enough magic between them.

Unfortunately there was one fatality. The others gave Puck some room as he hovered solemnly over her body. He stroked her hair, "Finny?" A tear dropped. "Puck?" she breathed her last breath, and slowly she turned to stone. Puck immediately began to sob. Though the comical character wasn't very good at showing it, this was one of the only time many of the others could remember him being serious. They couldn't help but also shed a tear for him also.

David approached his best friend and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Don't give up. There's magic within her too,"

Puck stopped bawling and pulled himself together, "of course," he said in a Data tone. Alexander walked over to him, willing to use the rest of his energy in what might be a futile attempt. Even Alex's mother, Fox, came over, willing to do was she could. Together the three slowly put all their energy into reviving the magical gargoyle. Slowly Finny melted into flesh. As soon as she was flesh, puck squealed.

"Finny! Come, come, I'm going to take good care of you," and he pick up the bigger gargoyle and carried her somewhere he could attend to her.

"What _was_ that about?" Elisa finally asked as she contemplated the attack

"She was after the gargoyles." MacBeth reminded.

"She was strong, stronger than Oberon almost." Xanatos inputted.

"Remember what my mother said," Fox added, "She's not doing this alone."

The Scottish King approached King Arthur, who was helping up the injured Griff, and assisted them. "Are you going to be alright?" The English King asked the English Gargoyle, seeing his leg bleeding terribly.

"'Tis nothing a good day of sunshine can't help," Griff said cheerfully. It was almost dawn and David invited Griff to spend the day at the castle atop the Erie Tower.

"Where are you headed?" MacBeth asked the King.

"Well, I will stay here until Griff is well enough to travel again, you?"

"Home again," MacBeth said bored, home was just an empty castle with two employees that were threatening to quit.

"Come with us?" Arthur offered.

"Well, no, I suppose I have some business to attend to."

MacBeth crawled up to the dark floor where he and Demona has been, she wasn't there. _Ah, I should have ended it when I had the chance._


	2. Chapter 2: Let’s Not Start That Again

**_Alone Chapter 2: Let's not start that again._**

One pleasant night Demona decided to take a flight and hoped it would continue to be a quiet night. As she flew over Central Park, she decided to set down and enjoy a little reflecting pool. Her thoughts drifted as she contemplated her image and past. (She was in an oddly good mood and decided to take advantage of it)

"Well, hello again, Demon." Someone said in a Scottish accent who was sitting on a park bench behind her.

"You were always good at lurking in shadows," Demona sneered.

"So, what brings ye here, M'Lady?" He was wearing his usual trademark, high collared leather trench-coat while Demona was wearing her trademark rags.

"What do you want?" she said with a growl.

"Nothing, I was enjoying the night until you dropped in."

"Forgive me for making assumptions" she snapped politely, "but your typical goal is usually to kill me."

MacBeth stood up. "And you are usually out to get vengeance when it was originally your fault!"

"Why you–!Rroww!" There went Demona's mood. She lurched forward at MacBeth, forcing him to the ground making her best effort to cause him pain, "What are you trying to say?"

"You destroyed yer clan by leaving me for Canmore. You couldna trust him and he _did_ slay yer clan, you know that! I believe we've had this discussion before." They wrestled around some more as they argued.

"You didn't care about my clan! All you wanted was the approval of the English!"

"Where did you get that idea? You are making assumption again! You were listening outside that window that night, were you not? I have had long time to think about all of this but I never had the chance to really ask you about it." Demona dug her claws into MacBeth's arms. He punched her in the face to relieve her grip.

"Yes, you were discussing that the only way to save your clan was by destroying mine. And you would have destroyed my clan at the slightest whim." She slashed his face with her claws, causing him to bleed, and winced herself in pain, red marks in the same place on her own face appeared in her blue skin.

"Nay, never would I have done so. Ye remember that Luach argued to keep ye alive! Come, now yer memory is as good at mine!. Or do you still reinvent the past with all humans as evil and gargoyles so perfect!" MacBeth threw a punch at Demona which automatically made his own face hurt. "What made you think I would listen to my father-in-law over my son?"

"All you cared about were the humans all along." She threw him at a park bench, breaking the bench.

"Nay," he grunted, "I wanted to find a way to save both, 'tis why I said I had to consider all of my options. Don't you remember?" He came back and fought to restrain her while he yelled at her, "Come on, think Demona! It was Canmore who betrayed ye. If ye had not betrayed me to him, yer clan would have lived! Use some sense for once!"

Demona couldn't think of any other answer to that than picking him up and throwing him at a tree. Then there was that annoying pause while both bent over in agony.

"Look, Demona," MacBeth panted, "I understand you were concerned for the safety of your clan and you had been betrayed by your allied humans before, but that doesn't mean that's always the case. But that doesn't explain why you left me for a less trustworthy human. I have tried to see you're point of view, it doesn't make sense, why can't you try to see it my way!" Demona answered with a kick in the stomach, knocking the wind out of both of them. He tried reinforcing what he said before, "It was not I who betrayed ye, it was those hunters! Remember, their whole purpose was just like yours, getting pathetic revenge."

"And your fighting and hunting me all of these centuries is not getting 'pathetic revenge'?"

"I think 'trying to commit suicide' is a little closer." They wrestled until she was on top of him; he kicked her off and she fell against the pavement.

"Wow, that's sad! You sorry old man, you spent all of these decades, simply trying to commit suicide?" She antagonized as she waited a bit before she charged him again, thrusting him at a tree, a small, low, broken branch gave him a nice puncture wound.

"Well, old crone, I guess I -too- have made many foolish choices in my days." He pushed her into the pavement.

She exhaled quickly, "What are mine? Betraying you? That was hardly the most foolish thing I've done!" She leaped on him and they wrestled more.

"I'm not disagreeing about your leaving, but other foolish choices: betraying yer castle and clan to the Vikings which caused your beloved Goliath turned into stone for a thousand years..." That enraged Demona to no extent. She growled and dug her claws deep into MacBeth's side and then kick him into the pool. His various wounds started turning the water red. Wet MacBeth continued "...you became scavengers and prey just because of your hatred toward humans and refusal to ally with any. Ye destroyed yer new clan too." Demona stood on top of MacBeth, making it difficult to hold his head above water, even in a shallow pool. "And then there was that time Thailog beguiled ye into making ye think he loved you!" Furious for that mockery, she pushed his head under the water with her tail. When she herself started to become light headed, she let him out of the water; she did not share his suicidal dream.

"And besides," he coughed with his voice starting to have a tone of humor in it, "yer still in love with that, what did you call him, human-loving-weak leader Goliath!"

She pulled him out of the pool thrust him toward the sidewalk. "You were the one that married that shrew." Now it was MacBeth's turn to be offended, no one insulted his beloved Gruoch. He kicked out her legs, causing her to drop to the pavement; next he kicked her head with his heavy boots; they shared a nasty headache.

"Demona, believe me when I say that it was never my intension to hurt you.. Well..._then_. We were friends, for thirty-seven years! I would never betray ye, I would have always been loyal!" She grabbed his leg and caused him to fall to the pavement, where they both lay briefly, in agony, as they caught their breath.

"So, what you are saying is that you never intended to betray us?" She said bitterly between grunts of pain.

"Of course 'tis what I have been saying, 'tis what I've always been saying!" he panted.

They both lay half dead on the sidewalk in silence for a moment. As they caught their breath, they tried to think of good comebacks.

As MacBeth lay on his back, in too much pain to move, he gave an unwelcome exhausted laugh, "I remember, back a few years ago when I first found you again, the Wyrd Sisters tried to convince me to stop the fight, telling me that death never got anyone close to me in my life anywhere. I guess I never learned. I never stopped trying to kill ye, and I haven't gotten anywhere."

There was a unexpected sigh from Demona. "They told me it was all a cycle of vengeance... and I needed to stop it... I denied it." Demona said dazed.

MacBeth cocked an eyebrow slightly. He then took a deep breath as he slowly and painfully tried to turn over "Your prejudice against humans has made it hard as well. 'Tis just like the human prejudice against gargoyles, they don't believe that you're not monsters and worth at least the same respect as any human." He grunted as he tried to push himself off the ground. "I agree that you deserve a lot of respect. Ever since you saved me as a lad I had more respect for you than many humans."

Demona's eyebrow cocked in confusion. She wasn't entirely sure how to take that, or how she wanted to take it. MacBeth finally pushed himself up onto his knees. Demona sat up quickly, and posed herself in a defensive position, preparing for another attack from him, though she could sense he was as tired as she was. He didn't make any move, he was too tired. Demona broke the silence, "I thought you were on a centuries long quest to kill me, not make small talk with me." She watched him closely.

"Eh," he sighed. "my priorities changed." She gave him a dead glare which he didn't give the pleasure of a response. She relaxed, convinced he was in no mood to go on this evening.

The truth was his priorities had changed. He didn't have a lot to do because his employees were complaining about hours and being given insane tasks, so he often tried to avoid a confrontation with them. He often found himself alone with nothing to do but to think.

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two. MacBeth grunted awkwardly and painfully as he pushed himself off the ground and onto his feet. Demona just watched him like a hawk but with an eyebrow confusedly raised. As he rose, he slapped his hand onto Demona's shoulder, "Well..." he composed himself with a grunt, after a second he said, "Same time next week?" He looked at Demona as if he expected an answer. After a second, he started to walk away from her. Demona watched him walk away with a look of mixed confusion and disgust on her face. As he disappeared from sight, Demona sat there for a while longer, not sure what to do next.

A sunny day, a great day to get some time outdoors. It was one of the first days of June and school was out. In a crowed park, he was shocked to pick out a familiar face. Of course he knew that face well, he had searched for her for centuries, even though the human face had fooled him before.

He decided to take on a new adventure. He wanted to play the how-long-can-I-talk-to-Demona-before-we-try-to-kill-each-other game. He said sarcastically, "Can I buy ye a drink, Lass?" She jumped. She hadn't expected to hear that, and certainly not from him.

As her heart calmed, her face grew to a mixture of confusion and anger. "Alright..." Her thoughts flashed so fast that they didn't even make sense to her. They flashed all the possible reasons MacBeth would make such an offer and none made sense. If she believed anything MacBeth said the last time they met, it was that his priorities had indeed changed, so She gave in, with an unusual curiosity.

MacBeth invited her to walk with him as they drank their drinks. MacBeth continued his game. "So, how do you spend you days now?" MacBeth perked up some of that small talk that you really don't want to make but your force yourself to anyway.

Demona gave out a kind of disgusted cough/laugh. She looked at MacBeth with her disgusted look but got a calm look in return. So she cleared her throat, changed her expression and said lovingly sinister, "Why are we so friendly?"

"I had to learn a few manners as a King, you know." It was odd, MacBeth thought, especially to be talking to her like this after he had foolishly fallen in love with the charade Demona had pretended to be back in Paris.

"How do I spend my days?" She repeated, "Oh, same old, same old, some anti-gargoyle humans found out where I live...those pesky..." She clenched her fist and her eyes turned red. She relaxed and smiled sarcastically broad, "and you?"

"I'm a teacher now."

"Really? In what?"

"European History."

"Wow, imagine that," she dripped with disdain. He laughed quietly.

"But school just let out about a week ago, so 'tis been rather slow." He shrugged casually.

They walked a short bit without saying anything.

Before MacBeth completely forgot what was going on, Demona said suddenly and surprisingly unsarcastic, "I've been thinking about that... 'discussion' we had gotten into... earlier...I've been trying to think about...it all...using common sense."

MacBeth said nothing, though some smart comments came to mind. He was so shocked to hear this from her that his confused lips wouldn't have let him say anything anyway. The situation became... uncomfortable.

"Well, it's getting toward evening," She cocked her head sarcastically and continued in a in-case-you-didn't-know tone. "I should be getting back, nice talking to you." Demona said as friendly as ever. As MacBeth watched her leave, he thought about how weird that had been and decided to go do something boringly normal.

Demona didn't have any employees anymore except a secretary. The last time she had workers for her firm, NightStone Unlimited, she found out she had Hunters among them and therefore cursed herself for having trusted humans again. She hoped the secretary was as naive as she seemed, but still, they had gotten in a fight that day. After that, she knew it would be a long night. Tired of the quiet of her mansion, Demona hoped that maybe she could get a chance to talk to Angela. Demona and Angela had talked a few times over the years but the meetings were usually not very smooth and the last time she visited before the battle of Eris, Demona and Goliath had gotten into a fight and she tried to kill him again. It was possible Angela probably wouldn't be happy to see her. Demona hoped that since it had been a while, they might give her a chance.

Demona landed in the Erie Tower castle court yard and was immediately greeted by her welcoming committee, lead by Brooklyn, who would never stop holding a grudge on her.

"Hey, you ain't welcome here!" Patch, the new maroon gargoyle shouted.

"Let me see my daughter, gargoyle-wannabe. I come with no agenda and unarmed, though probably quite foolish."

"You're darn right it was foolish," Brooklyn threaten.

"Should I go find a white flag and wave it around for you?" Demona mocked, "I just want to talk to Angela. You guys can keep a close eye on me, I won't try to kill Goliath this time." Demona pleaded.

"What do you want to do to her?" Brooklyn argued.

"Talk to her," she enunciated, "she's my daughter, is that reasonable?"

"Just talk?" Lexington didn't trust her. "Like last time!"

"Come on guys," Liberty, the new little optimist in the group, didn't know Demona very well, even a thousand years before. "It's been a while, give her a chance?"

Brooklyn growled, "Besides, she's not here."

Demona was disappointed, "Where is she?"

"She's out with her husband." Lexington told her. Demona was shocked to hear that. She knew that Angela and Broadway have had a relationship for a few years, but she didn't know more had arisen out of it. She was hurt, that she was never informed.

"Well, tell her I came to see her," Demona said angry.

"She recovered from her wounds and all " Liberty offered in a peaceful gesture "but she still get lightheaded a little after sunset." Liberty told her.

"Well, then!" Demona's eyes turned red with anger, she liked having the gargoyles think she hated all of them except Angela. Demona lurched off without saying anything more. After she was away, she began to cry. Why hadn't she been told about her daughter and Broadway? And "husband," such a human word. Her own daughter, getting too humanized, raised by humans... Did anyone bother to tell her anything anymore? If Avalon sunk, would anyone let her know? If a booming population of gargoyles was discovered in central Africa, would they let her meet them? If Goliath was killed, once her lover, would anyone tell her? She grew very angry toward the clan, more so than normal.

Demona felt offended, a bad night getting worse. If she returned to her mansion, the boredom from no one to talk to would probably cause her to think too much, in the end her anger would cause the destruction a few too many valuable objects in her house.

She kept flying, until she saw MacBeth's castle. She couldn't believe she was even considering but she decided to stop in. After the conversation they had about a week before, he probably would only think it -more- weird for her to stop in than his spontaneously talking to her at the park. She felt like...she needed someone to talk to...someone who'd actually understand...

Worried that he maybe feeling suicidal, Demona decided to stop and get some pizza as a peace gesture. By dropping in, Demona scared the poor pizza out of his wits; this helped her feel better.

Demona swooped into MacBeth's property, avoiding his predictable defense grid. She came to his front door and with a single kick, pent up with frustrations, broke it down with a satisfying blow. MacBeth's security alarm sounded, but before MacBeth could get up from what he was doing and attack the trespasser, Demona had already made her way to the kitchen and grabbed a couple sodas from his fridge.

MacBeth barged in the door and, gun ready, froze. "Demona!"

"Mind if I take your last Vanilla Coke?" She walked past the stunned Scot and into his dining hall. "I hope you don't mind pepperoni." She flopped the Pizza boxes onto the table. She sat down, making herself comfortable and throwing her legs on top of the shiny clean table.

"What? No attempts or devious planning to take over the world?" MacBeth said with mock disappointment. Hesitantly, he settled himself down on the other side of the table, gun still out. There couldn't be anything in the pizza that could harm him without harming her, so he assumed it was safe. He wondered what kind of sleeping potions she might be able to use against him as he took a bite of the pizza. "What do I owe the honor of this unexpected visit?" He asked cynically, casually opening up his Dr. Pepper Demona had picked out for him.

"Oh, no reason" Demona gave a fake shrug. "felt like trying to cause you trouble." Demona didn't look like her mind was in her words. MacBeth just watched and ate, anxious for what spontaneous thing could happen next. Then it happened. Demona said suddenly, quickly and with teeth clenched, "Insufferable clan! I went to go see Angela and they..." she made a jerky movement with her fist, "rejected me." She paused, her head sunk, "and so did Angela." She thought for a bit and said, "and besides, my secretary is also threatening to quit and I felt like I needed someone to yell at."

MacBeth nodded in agreement with a sarcastic this-is-logical expression on his face, "I know what you mean, I feel the same way without my thugs who quit a little while ago."

A silenced passed between them when suddenly Demona stood up and threw her pizza at the wall. " Does anyone care for gargoyle values and traditions anymore!" She shouted. "'husband'" the word haunted her. "I bet they had a full _human_ wedding too." She clawed MacBeth's walls and began to pace around the room angrily, making sudden jerky movements and often breaking things. MacBeth just watched in amazement, not sure what to do, and fairly entertained as he sipped his drink. "How could Goliath let her do that? Has he given up on our past so easily? Or is he just trying to forget our bond so quickly by insisting that our daughter be married in the _human_ way!" She picked up a very nice looking vase and got ready to throw it. MacBeth stopped her arm before she could throw, took the antique out of her hand and replaced it with the ceramic plate his pizza had been on. When he left go of her arm, she threw it against the wall with a delightful shatter.

MacBeth analyzed, "And what is the gargoyle method of marriage?"

"It's more a private thing, an agreement made between the couple." She answered his question quickly, not putting much thought into it nor letting it disturb her pacing.

"Then how do you know that you daughter didn't just do that, but they use a more human word to refer to her mate?" He suggested.

Demona threw him a glare, letting him know that she didn't ask his opinion and threw herself down in a chair, digging her claws into its arm and didn't say anything for a while. MacBeth just ate some more of the pizza which Demona had not taken a bite of.

Demona's mind wandered rapidly in thought. Suddenly and randomly she asked, "What do you think the Wyrd Sisters want with us?" MacBeth's eye's widened suddenly at the randomness of Demona bringing up the fays who had originally cast the spell, binding Demona and MacBeth together, centuries earlier.

"Maybe they just use us for their own entertainment," MacBeth suggested sinisterly, the thought did strike him as entertaining...

Demona scoffed, "Maybe they will let us have a life for a while," Demona said too optimistically to really even hope for that, "maybe they'll take the spell off and kill us now."

"Well, Goliath said they used us in getting the Gramorum and as pawns for the Archmage. Aire there more things they need us for? Or did they just leave us to live this endless..." He dared not use the word 'lonely', "...monotonous existence?" After another long pause, Demona got up suddenly and left. "Feel free to stop by any time!" MacBeth called after her. He stood and blinked for a second and then started cleaning up.

It had been a little while since he saw her, but when he saw her the next time, it was too hilarious a situation to pass up. She was out in public at the harbor. It was an overcast day, threatening to rain, so the beach was not crowded. She was wearing her ordinary rags, which fit in here on the shore, but what cracked MacBeth up was that she was suntanning, or at least she would be if there was sun. She was relaxing on a cot, reading, with sunglasses and a sun hat... not something MacBeth pictured her wearing any time soon. Since he was bored, had no one to talk to, not to mention nothing better to do, he decided to delight in the event he found so humorous, but then, we can't say much about his sense of humor, can we?

"Hello," he said, to her, trying to keep a straight face. She didn't notice his tone because by the time she realized who was talking to her, she gave out a sudden laugh of her own. She hadn't seen him in clothes other than his usual high-collared black trench-coat since they were in Paris together. She had never seen him in a friendly green, Hawaiian shirt before, nor would she have ever pictured him in such.

He gave an embarrassed chuckle when he realized what she was laughing at. MacBeth was surprised to see how nice she looked when she was in a good mood. It reminded him suddenly of a woman he once loved which made him suddenly very uncomfortable. He tried to hide it and asked, "What are you reading?"

Demona smiled in an sarcastically perky way, "_MacBeth." _MacBeth gave a look of disgust as he tore the play out of her hands and started looking at it. She started mocking him, "My, you certainly do have this thing with death, 'a never ending cycle'." It started to rain very lightly, not enough to make anyone move. "And you were certainly brutal on Duncan."

"One moment," He defended from her harassment, "ye were there when I killed Duncan, it was aither me or him, he tried to slay me and my father before that...and I stopped him from crushing you while you were stone, you realize!" He defended.

"I know," she grumbled as if she were trying to explain the joke. She tore the book back.

"...I never did like him."

"Duncan?"

"No, Shakespeare. You see, I met him during a time when I was researching Gargoyles centuries after most of the records of them had been destroyed. I asked him to include your kind in his stories along with Oberon's children. He had a rough draft but he ruined it. He made gargoyles sound like drooling, bloodthirsty animals, ignorant and with no character, which I knew was false."

"I would have thought you thought that I was a snarling, stupid animal?"

"I have not forgotten when we were friends. I knew all gargoyles could think and deserved more respect than that. In any case, we got in a fight and so he decided, instead, to ruin my reputation."

"Uh-huh?" She said with doubt. It started to do more than drizzle, but both were too proud to search for cover.

"Studied gargoyles huh?" Demona said with a sincere interest that caught MacBeth off guard.

"I did not find much. I guess the part I found the most interesting was how little information was left. 'Twas as if the human race was trying to forget they existed."

"It worked, until now."

"Yeah, now that Goliath's clan is out and are heros, some Gargoyles around the world have been revealing themselves."

"It would be interesting to hear their story." Demona said distantly. "What did you learn about gargoyles?"

"I guess it always fascinated me how many different varieties there are. I mean, us humans, we vary between different shades of pale orange and browns. But I love how colorful some gargoyles are, with different wings and horns."

"But we all have black eyes," she said. MacBeth looked at her eyes for a second, they were delightfully green, a bit unrealistic perhaps, but her being human was the work of Puck's magic in the first place anyway. He looked away suddenly as a wave of embarrassment came over him.

There was silence for the next while. They mainly just let the rain fall on them as they both kept their eyes on the harbor. The sound and smell was relaxing. As sunset fell, Demona stood up to prepare to go into her metamorphosis.

"Eh," MacBeth hesitated and stepped away from her. He remembered last time he was near her when she went into metamorphosis was in Paris, and the pain she had to endure was terrible, he did not particularly want to share it with her. At that distance, the pain MacBeth bore was easily bearable. For some reason MacBeth felt guilty for Demona's pain, it was the first time in nine centuries, maybe because this time he hadn't inflicted the pain.

MacBeth stuffed his hands into his pockets and gave out a bored sigh. Demona just gave him a glare. "Hungry?" He asked suddenly. She blinked in confusion. "Come on," he continued, "I make a mean lasagna, and if that doesn't kill you, I'll poison dessert."

Demona laughed. "In that case, let me give you a lift. I'll pick the least convenient place to throw you off."

He grasped his hands tightly around her neck as she took off. The two did not say much except the occasional discussion of items they saw on the flight back to MacBeth's castle. For some reason the flight wasn't exactly difficult to get through, not like sitting through a class period where you are assigned to work with someone you really hated. More like if you were working with that someone you hated after not seeing -anyone- in over a week.

As they flew near an apartment balcony, a drunk man sat lazily. When he saw the winged figure, the hillbilly grabbed his gun and shot at Demona.

Demona screeched like a cat as the bullet pierced her wing. MacBeth groaned with a phantom pain that struck him. He always thought it was weird that he would feel pain when Demona was hurt in a appendage humans didn't even have. Demona took shelter on the apartment roof. MacBeth went to the edge and was ready to jump down the fire-escapes to the man's apartment.

"Where are you going?" the injured Demona asked.

"I am going to turn him into the authorities."

"I can take care of this myself!"

"Come now, 'twould be my pleasure." MacBeth insisted forcefully. And with that MacBeth left Demona on the roof before she could say anything more.

MacBeth dropped on the landing where the drunk still searched the sky for gargoyles through the scope on his rifle.

"Ye are under arrest for attacking gargoyles who are protected under the government," MacBeth lied.

"Hey!" was about all the man could say as he pointed at MacBeth, who was still just in his damp green Hawaiian shirt.

MacBeth pulled out his wallet, flashed it without giving the man a chance to see he had no police badge, "this way," he started wrestling the man out the door. The man might have been bigger than MacBeth, but he wasn't stronger. For a man who was physically in his 60's, MacBeth knew how to stay in shape over the centuries, after all, he had to be as strong as a female gargoyle. He walked him to the police station where he told them that the man had tried to kill a gargoyle. Since the police in Manhattan were probably the biggest human fans of the gargoyles, he had no trouble getting them to take him. MacBeth left before they had a chance to question him. He was glad he didn't see Elisa there, he didn't want to have to explain the situation to her.

As he left the station, the rain had slowed to a drizzle by then, he began to walk home when he slipped on the still damp road as he crossed the street. A speeding car couldn't stop in time. But, just in time though, Demona flew down and picked him out of the street. Again he was on Demona's back, flying to his house.

"You saved me?" he was confused, that hadn't happened for over 900 years. Demona just shrugged. "'Tis not like he could have killed me." MacBeth rubbed his sore knee.

"Well," Demona said in an unsure tone, "I told you I'd give you a lift, didn't I?"

"Well, that's two favors now, giving me a lift and saving me the trouble of the pain of being hit by a car, then going to a hospital and having them be surprised that I survived and then trying to explain it...thank you...What's the catch?"

"Has that happened to you a lot over centuries?" she asked, ignoring his last comment; a conversation for the flight was struck up, "no one was ever there to notice that I had survived after someone tried to kill me over the years..."

Almost to MacBeth's place, ahead of them they noticed some winged figures. As they drifted closer, Lexington's familiar under-arm-wing-silhouette became apparent. Demona ducked in the shadows of a nearby building.

"Don't tell me you are afraid of them," MacBeth mocked.

"No..." Demona stated in her usual angry voice, "I just prefer to avoid a dealing with them right now." She breathed in and then out and said in a calmer tone, "besides, if they saw us together they'd probably think it was some plot and would stop at nothing to bug us to death." When the other gargoyles had past, they continued the flight saying nothing.

"Is your wing alright?" MacBeth asked when they arrived at his place,

"It'll heal during the day." She replied simply.

"But...but you have no wings during the day." Demona just laughed at his confusion and they headed into MacBeth's place.

"When did you learn to cook Italian food?" Demona continued to try to be polite...this was better than finding something else to eat at home and she doubted Wendy's would serve a gargoyle even if they were open this early. She sat down to eat in an easy chair in MacBeth's living area.

"You were in Italy in the late-1400's I think it was?" MacBeth said. Demona nodded after thinking for a second. He continued, "I just missed you later that century. I fell in love with a family who's mother was a great cook. They took me in and I felt welcome for the first time in a long time..." he trailed off. After a pause he gave out a sigh.

Demona looked up from her food with such understanding it shocked her. She asked, though already guessing the answer, "What happened?"

MacBeth took in a deep breath, "They died in the Plague."

Demona knew that feeling all too well. "What's the point of living like this?" Demona said suddenly, breaking the calm. She put her plate down angrily, "I mean, we just out live everyone we care about, see all of them die!" she gave a soft catlike growl. "We've tried everything, there's nothing left to live for. This isn't sane! There's a reason beings are given a limited life span!" She yelled, eyes red, cheeks hot and a tear streaked her cheek as she picked up her plate and frisbeed it at the wall.

MacBeth gritted his teeth at the memories. He sighed again and said softly, "What is the point? Is it really worth it?" MacBeth got up and it was his turn to pace angrily. "All the magic we could learn after a millennia... even conquering the world would never make up for all we've lost!" They both pondered this for a moment. MacBeth took another couple of paces and sat back down. They both glared at the floor for a few moments like it was the carpet's fault for everything that had happened to them. When MacBeth had regained his cool he said, "We should think of things we haven't done yet...I don't know, _see the world_?"

"Sounds dull," Demona said, clenching her fists with the anger that had not yet subsided.

"I hope you don't want to kill yourself...Well, I'm sure there's something you have to live for. I've grown fond of my history students, for example. Once schools starts again, I'll enjoy working with them. Of course I have to change school districts every five or ten years or so because they think I should be getting to retiring age, and then I have to forge new documents every once in a while to prove that I'm as old as I looked..." He said that angrily, obvious that as much as he enjoyed teaching, living a secret immortal life was more aggravating than it was worth. MacBeth got up and leaned against the wall, deep in thought. His mind wandered as he calmed, "Teaching... helping a child grow...like my own son" he spoke in a melancholy, distant voice, "Those were the days... what about Angela? Wouldn't you like to see her grow up?"

"From a distance." Demona growled.

"Give the clan some time." He tried to reassure her, "Seeing the light in the eyes of a child when they have learned something is a true gift. You will see it in Angela and your grandchildren."

"And my great-grand children..." Demona growled

"I'm sure we'll find some way to make this life work out..."

"You'd think we'd have learned something by now?" Demona said angrily.

"We could just kill each other," MacBeth offered.

"What, when I was just starting to enjoy abusing you?" Demona scoffed

Before sunrise came, Demona took off. It wasn't a lighthearted discussion, but they were glad they had it . They were glad they could let it out although neither would ever admit it.


	3. Chapter 3: See the World

_**Alone Chapter 3: See the World**_

Before they knew it, Demona was in MacBeth's hover jet and the two were, can you believe it, off to see the world. Partially they thought it would be, in a way, an adventure, not seeing the world but seeing how long they could trust their travel companion. They knew that the other would not hurt them for that would just cause themselves pain, and yet they could capture and use the other, like Demona did to MacBeth in Paris. In a way, they figured if that happened it would be another interesting situation to try to get out of...besides the battle with Eris, neither had had much excitement in the last few years.

At that time they were flying over the United States, not really stopping to see any sites, just flying low over places such as Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco...just so they can say they've seen it.

"So, where shall we go, hmm?" MacBeth asked as they flew though the puffs of smoke rising from Mt. St. Helens. He wasn't really trying to be nice... he had trouble doing that to someone he basically blamed for most of his trouble in life. But in some ways he felt sorry and sympathy for her because she, like him, was living a 'sad, endless existence. . . alone'.

"Somewhere we haven't been?" Demona slouched in her seat and picked up a pebble off the floor and threw it lazily at the window.

"What about Paris," He said cruelly.

Demona responded with a dark look. "Yes, lets... I have some unfinished business there..."

"What about Scotland?" He asked more seriously.

"Somewhere we _haven't_ been," She reminded with a scowl. " Isn't the point of this trip to try to find positive things about immortality?" She sarcastically remarked as she slouched lower in her chair.

Before they knew it, they found themselves snorkeling in the tropical fish abundant waters of Hawaii. MacBeth was trying to explain to Demona how to use the snorkel before they went under the water to look at the fish. Demona was wearing a one piece blue swim suit while MacBeth was wearing dark green swimming trunks. For a man who was physically in his 60's, he looked pretty good in a swim suit.

"Have you not been swimming before?" He asked.

"Swimming? Yes. But not to look at fish, it was typically at night, remember." The expression on his face said 'Oh yeah,' as if he had gotten used to her being human daily. "I've only experienced being human for the last nine years of my life," She said, almost reading his mind, "There are many human things I haven't done yet."

"Well, I haven't experienced being a gargoyle at all in my lifetime. Am I missing much?"

Demona shrugged half-heartedly, "Flying?"

Next they were skydiving over South America. It was sunset and a pleasant evening. MacBeth set his jet to auto pilot and the two leaped out.

"Whoah, without wings, how am I going to keep from hitting the ground?" Demona uncomfortably shouted over the rushing wind.

"Well, we typically wear parachutes." MacBeth yelled.

"What?"

"I'm counting on you turning into a gargoyle in mid-fall." Sunset was upon them but their time was quickly running out.

Demona soon began her change but by the time she was a gargoyle she had to think fast to save MacBeth because their rate of acceleration was at a dangerous speed. But she decided to save him anyway.

The field they had landed in was amid some small Inca ruins, nothing of interest to tourist, so they had the field to themselves, which, frankly, was how they liked it. MacBeth and Demona rested on the grass now that they weren't in danger of harm The stars were beginning to come out and the winter air smelled refreshingly of cucumber.

"You know, ye dinna have to save me." MacBeth said after he caught his breath.

"Who knows? Maybe my failure to save you was the cause of your death, therefore I would have killed you and myself."

"I doubt the Wyrd Sisters aire that strict about the definition of 'slaying each other.' But 'tis something to ask them sometime, I suppose."

They thought a second as they listened to the breeze rush through the trees. Then Demona said stoically, "I think if they were picky about that, we would have died a half millennia ago."

"But, then they need us in that battle on Avalon." MacBeth contemplated.

"What if they still need us?" Demona and MacBeth pondered the questions a while before he summoned for his hover jet.

After spending a hot day in Beijing, the two found their way to the streets of Japan. They wandered the markets in ordinary civilian clothes as they peered into the store windows. In Japan, it is customary for restaurants to have examples of the food on display, for those to see what the food looks like before entering.

Demona peered into the window of one restaurant, looking at the food designed to look like flowers.

"They're plastic, you know." MacBeth leaned over her shoulder and told her. Demona gave him look that said she didn't believe him, now or ever. The food looked real, moist, and ready to eat. "The food, 'tis plastic. There's a big business in Japan for making plastic food."

"Uh-huh?" She said annoyed with her all-knowing companion. "And where do you learn these useless details?"

"I have been alive for a millennia, I've picked up a few things here and there."

"Yeah, and I'm over seventy years older than you," which was ironic because human Demona appeared physically perhaps 20 years younger than MacBeth, "why don't I know so many details?" Her tone did not suggest envy.

"Little -human- details. Besides, you were probably awake, and able to move, only twelve hours a day on average; changing with the season. I, typically, am awake for more than 18 hours a day. Add that up over a millennia, who's been living longer? Besides, you were probably too busy trying to take over the world during that time."

They continued to stroll the streets of Tokyo. They stopped by a jewelry booth. MacBeth picked up a sapphire earing and held it up to Demona's ear as if to imagine what it would look like on her.

"Nah," she said pushed him away, annoyed with his invading her space, "It would clash with my skin."

"Do you ever wear any other earrings than those gold ones that you've been wearing since we first met?"

"I wore pearl earrings to... our... wedding" she hesitated, she didn't mean to bring up that subject from Paris.

"Hmph, they looked good on you." He said antagonistically, not happy about that topic being brought up. "Much better than your ugly old ones.

"I've gone through a few pair of gold rings, thank you very much. The crown is original, though."

"How about your clothes you wear as a gargoyle, they look like the same ones you wore back at the turn of last millennia."

Before she could answer, the sales man approached them to ask how he could help. MacBeth handed him a pair of diamond earrings, done in a beautiful ethnic Japanese style, he thought would look good on Demona.

"Your money must really be burning a whole in your pocket if you're going to buy that for me."

"For ze wife?" The salesman assumed ignorantly as he collected MacBeth's money.

Demona gave out a loud, quick, "Ha!" MacBeth discreetly elbowed her in the stomach and smiled as politely as he could so to not offend the salesman and said, "friend, yes."

As they walked away, Demona looked at the earrings and said, "friend?"

"Eh, I wouldn't go as far friend perhaps... but like it or not Demona, we happen to have something in common, a thousand years of things in common in fact." He commented.

Demona raised her chin, "Hmph, allies then?"

MacBeth exhaled quickly, reminding Demona what happened when thet allied for the first time, "I wouldn't go that far."

Demona snarled and pushed him hard enough that he lost balance and fell to the ground. She chuckled as she kept walking.

Next, they wandered the streets of India. The overcrowded country, poor sanitation and cows wandering the streets was a change from the modernized Japan they had just left.

"Why did we come here?" Demona questioned MacBeth.

"Well, we're not seeing the world if we stick to tourist traps in the upperclass places of society." They continued to walk, not headed anywhere in particular. "Besides," MacBeth continued, "maybe I came here to improve my self esteem, to remind me that my life isn't that bad, that there are some who are more worse off than me..." He stopped suddenly when he saw a small, skinny, scantily clad little boy run into the arms of his poor father. "Or is it..?"

Demona felt what he meant, she understood him better that moment then she ever had before. Sometimes she forgot that he had a son so many years ago.

After some more touring, she brought up suddenly, "You know, you've got to admit that this last decade or so has been the most interesting."

"Well, after all those years of searching, I didn't find you until recently. Funny how fast things change. After Paris, for what, eight years now, we've stopped hunting each other..."

"You hunted me, I had my own things to do."

"Right, getting revenge on Goliath, humans and hunters? Being eternally untrustworthy and out causing problems, blaming them on someone else and then taking revenge on them... and oh how could I forget, getting power and trying to take over the world."

Demona growled, "well, at least I didn't focus 900 years on one thing!"

"Well, I did other things," he defended, "I had a hobby of studying Magic, particularly Merlyn's Magic, gargoyles and designing old fashion buildings...And then I married an American woman around 1850. So my years haven't been _completely_ wasted...besides the fact that I never did accomplish my main goal of trying to kill you..."

"Well, you had your fair share of power hungry stages as well," Demona defended as she punched him to the side. MacBeth didn't feel like fighting back, instead, he just returned to her side and lead her down to a dock on the river.

"Now where are we going?" She asked MacBeth who didn't answer her. He just paid a man at the dock to rent a small boat, the two got in and he started rowing down the river.

Demona breathed deep. Wanting to get her mind off what they were fighting about, she tried to brighten the mood. "So, tell me about this American you married..." Demona asked after they departed the shore.

"Aye," MacBeth said after a sigh, a pause and a far off stare, "I met her after I moved to the United States in the early 1800s. I had gone through four names and two social security numbers...Broke into some official documents to hide the truth, I did not want to draw government attention..."

"What was she like," Demona tried to pry into his more personal life hoping to take more of the attention away from hers, and besides, she enjoyed making him uncomfortable.

"Simple. She didn't have a lot of money, a poor pioneer. Which was an intriguing contrast to Gruoch my queen. She was the first woman to love me in over 700 years. I loved her, a lighthouse on the dark sea of my life." MacBeth bit his lip.

"Well?" Demona said calmly, not wanting to anger him further, she could sense his hesitation to tell the rest of the story. "Come now, what's wrong? I don't have to be able to feel your pain to know something's wrong."

"You see," MacBeth exhaled, "she died of Cholera two years after we were married."

Demona breathed in deeply and sighed as she remembered all the friends she had lost. MacBeth looked at Demona as he rowed, she seemed lost in thought as she watched the sun lower in the sky. MacBeth wondered what she was thinking, if she had questions she wanted to ask him. He knew he had questions, about when they had spent weeks in Paris and he didn't even know it was her, and more. He didn't know how to approach the subjects. Finally he broke the silence and said stoically, "What's on your mind?"

"Oh, I was just thinking about this sunset and how it reminds me of Germany."

MacBeth thought about how he too had been to so many places, and simple moments will remind him of where he's been. Maybe that's why they often thought about their past like this, they had more to think about than other people, many more memories. Maybe it was another part of their curse to have such good memory abilities.

As sunset came, Demona again went into her usual metamorphosis as they sat in the boat, nearly tipping it. MacBeth stayed with her, not that he had much choice in the boat, but he knew what he was getting into before they got in. He accepted the pain now, just another one of those things that kept the trip interesting. They turned a bend and he gave one more pull at the oars and then let it coast. Demona was looking out one side of the boat, when MacBeth stopped rowing she looked up to see why and she finally saw the magnificent building on the other shore. In the darkness of the dusk, the floodlights that surrounded the building gave it a majestic look. It kinda helped MacBeth feel better to see her face brighten when she saw the building, which was ironic, she was the last person in the world he'd chose to be happy if he had a choice.

"See, there are beauties in every country." He said steadily.

Demona chuckled in a displeased way, "Whoever built it could have fed his country with the money it took to build that."

"I didn't think you cared."

"It just goes to show human stupidity, how selfish leaders destroy their own country."

"It was built a long time ago." That was all MacBeth chose to say on the subject. He didn't feel like spoiling the mood by bringing up gargoyle selfish leaders.

When they were done admiring the great architecture and beauty of the Taj Mahal, MacBeth suggested that they return to shore. As they approached, the man in charge of the dock noticed Demona came back looking like a blue demon. He didn't know what to do or say, for he didn't know English. This delighted their time corrupted sense of humor as they returned to MacBeth's hover jet.

Walking though sites in Egypt in the hot sun, both wore outfits you'd expect from tourists, including sunglasses and a hat to block the burning sun. Demona still wasn't used to all the sun and sunburns were new to her since Puck placed his spell on her. The two followed the line of tourists as they were shown ancient Egyptian tombs.

"Tell me something," MacBeth said over the chatter of tourists, "just for my own curiosity and my study of gargoyles, when you are human, do you feel human emotions?" He said that rather stoically as he often did on the trip.

Demona eyed him slyly as she guessed what he was getting at but worked around it, "I get cold easier, I'm weaker when I'm human, is that what you mean?" She spoke in a calm tone which was becoming more common for her lately.

"Do you feel foolish and untrustworthy?"

Demona did not respond to that.

"Are you attracted to humans?"

Demona gave him a dirty look, "To human men in general or you?" she mocked.

"Well," MacBeth teased, keeping his eyes of the artifacts they passed, "not necessarily..." He razed her more, "How about in Paris where you pretended to love me...?"

"What an odd question to ask me at a time like this." Demona didn't want to bring that up so she answered the question, but not his later question. "No," she said firmly, "All humans are hideous. I'm prejudice, remember," she criticized and shrugged. "To me, humans will always be arrogant, evil, untrustworthy and... stupid.."

"Humans in general, or just me?" MacBeth said, Demona laughed. After a pause, He changed the subject. "How about when ye aire a gargoyle, what do gargoyle women look for in a male gargoyle? Goliath must have been the pick of the flock back in Scotland, the other girls must have been jealous." His tone had an evil mockery about it.

Demona growled.

"It must have been hard," he continued his harassment, "Waiting 1000 years to see him again, just to have him wake up and reject you." Demona kept her eyes on the artifacts, her eyes starting to glow red with anger. "I can only imagine," MacBeth said less harshly, "...how difficult it would be if I found out that Gruoch was alive, just to have her tell me she did not love me anymore."

"She'll say you've changed." Demona said softly.

MacBeth's eyes grew wide. "No, I doubt she would have approved of my millennia as an assassin." There was silence between them. As MacBeth thought on this, Demona could feel a pain growing in her own throat.

They exited the tomb they were touring and entered the hot Egyptian sun. MacBeth calmly, tried to remember to be polite again,"...hmm, forget that Goliath," MacBeth suggested trying to put each other on common grounds, "Find someone new. We could look for some of these new gargoyles who are revealing themselves around the world? Or those boys from Goliath's clan, in a few years they will be the same age as you."

Demona laughed with disgust. "You know, I did try to find someone new."

"I mean someone who isn't a clone of Goliath," MacBeth grumbled as he rolled his eyes.

"I guess I never really loved Thailog anyway. In some ways I was just using him to get back at Goliath."

"By trying to make him jealous, that was obvious." MacBeth said firmly.

"Then he was just using me."

"And you were using me." He said lacking any sympathy.

Demona forgot that about that. In Paris, Thailog had done exactly to her as she had done to MacBeth. He pretended to love her but just wanted her money. "Why are you even standing next to me? After what I've done to you? How do you trust me?"

"Whoever said I trust you? No, I'm using ye for company, this trip would be really weird if I went alone."

She added seriously, "You trust me enough... you know I don't need as much sleep as you do. How do you trust me with your jet while you sleep, hmm?"

"I don't. Besides, how do you trust me? I'm the suicidal one, remember? Aither way, I have all my systems locked out from you." Annoyed she flung her hand toward him, but she sighed.

"Goliath said I'm incapable of love, there in Paris. He's probably right." Demona seemed to be getting better at angering and depressing herself. She didn't know why she was telling him this, she hadn't laid her problems on anyone in a long time, not since... well, she couldn't remember.

"Goliath is the expert on such a thing, isn't he. How long has he been flirting that human?" MacBeth pointed out, "Besides, at the same time he said that I was capable of love. And look at me over the last centuries." He grunted resentfully. The sun wasn't so high anymore and they've started pacing through the desert in no particular direction. Little was said for a while as their thoughts wandered.

Then Demona added, thinking back over the conversations, "To be honest, I don't care who Goliath loves anymore. He can love Elisa, Fox or Brooklyn for all I care." She said that forcefully and angrily but she hesitated and MacBeth could tell she was still down about something else. "I just hate..."

"...Being alone?" MacBeth finished. A feeling of understanding passed between the duo.

They started heading out in the desert, probably to where the authorities would rather tourists didn't go. The silence was uncomfortable so MacBeth tried to find a comfortable subject, "There were heard of gargoyles in Egypt were there not?"

"Yeah, I think I remember hearing about some revealing themselves."

"We have nothing better to do," now and their lives in general, "let's go look for them." They wandered the desert, mainly waiting for nightfall; Live gargoyles are easier to find than stone ones.

"So, Grouch, Mary, have there ever been any other women in your life?" Demona pried into his personal life in a devious tone.

"Well, there was this one woman, beautiful, charming, yet mysterious. She made me feel like I had a purpose in my life." MacBeth avoided eye contact. Doing so told Demona exactly who he was talking about, Dominique Destine, the human she had pretended to be in Paris and tried to make MacBeth fall in love with. He grunted uncomfortably then said. "Did you ever have anyone besides Goliath and Thailog?"

"Nope," Demona said with a fake cheerfulness, "do you have any other personal questions for me?"

"As a matter of fact, are Scottish gargoyles reptiles or mammals?"

Demona laughed at the most unexpected question. "I do believe that the most evolved creatures on this planet are warm blooded. Yes, we're mammals."

"But you lay eggs."

"That's because a pregnant gargoyle is a weak gargoyle."

"Ah." MacBeth tried to picture a pregnant gargoyle and laughed, she laughed with him.

When the sun set Demona became a gargoyle once again and took flight from the dune on which they stood, picking up MacBeth on the way. "It would be easier to find these gargoyles from the air." A little while later, some gargoyles did see her flying and flew to meet her.They invited the duo to meet with them. The Egyptian gargoyles lived in a network of old, undiscovered tombs, with many other gargoyles. It was like a whole community with walls that were almost full of the history they continued to keep.

There was one there, called Nebulan, who actually looked Arabic, helped them translate the Ancient Egyptian into English. They shared stories and Demona and MacBeth listened to the Egyptians' stories with a shared deep interest.

The Egyptians had been living there for millennia, protecting the humans.

"As is the gargoyle way," said the gargoyles known as Sheh'seh. Demona grunted in disagreement, but MacBeth elbowed her before she said anything.

The Egyptians continued with their history, telling how the humans honored the gargoyles. Honoring some, like a great gargoyle judge known as Ma'at, by rearing them, after their death, like gods, right next to the fays that lived among the Ancient Egyptians.

Then there was a revolt. Many humans grew to oppose gargoyle control (Demona shifted uncomfortable when this all-too-familiar topic came up). Many of the gargoyles were killed. The rest were sent into hiding. They changed their history, painted over their artwork, making their gargoyle gods more human like.

"And they finally came to forget you even existed?" MacBeth asked, knowing the answer.

"But we still protect," added a jackle-headed gargoyle named Reh'Teh, "But in secret. We try to protect the innocent, just one person at a time if necessary, and maybe the world is a tiny bit better because of our help."

"We have to go." MacBeth stood up suddenly. MacBeth's own teeth were starting to hurt because Demona was gritting hers so roughly. "I'm getting tired," he lied. "Thank you so much for your time, perhaps we can meet to share knowledge again." He said as he shook their hands goodbye.

The Scots left the cave and walked out across the desert. MacBeth pointed a remote into the air, put his arm down and continued walking. A few minutes later, MacBeth's autopilot-guided jet picked up the duo.

As MacBeth headed to bed, he asked, "Not going to go back and visit with the Egyptians? Make a few friends. There were a lot of males there...

Demona rolled her eyes and gave a bitter "nah." MacBeth didn't question. "Where are we going next?" Demona asked before MacBeth went to sleep.

"I don't know, I feel like Australia."

"Australia?" She questioned. "Are we ever going to go in a straight line on this journey?"

"Nay." He said as if she had just asked a stupid question, and with that he headed to his sleeping quarters.

In the Australian evening, MacBeth introduced Demona to a social gathering known as a dance. They checked out the refreshments and watched the other dancers for a while at first.

"May I have this Dance?" MacBeth bowed with hypocrite politeness as a waltz started .

Demona gave him a dead stare "Why?"

"Because I know you'd hate so much to do something so human and I try my hardest to put you through such agony."

"Well then, just to despite you, I'll enjoy this." MacBeth taught her to waltz, taking little care to avoid stepping on her feet.

The beautiful Australian sunset was interrupted with Demona's daily change into a gargoyle. The other dancers were distracted by the sight of a gargoyle, so the pair decided that it was probably best that they hit the road.

The next stop they made was in Jerusalem. By night, they were caught in an clash between the Israelis and Palestinians. There was an explosion and some people were trapped in automobiles that were caught on fire. Almost instinctively MacBeth rushed to save them.

"Come, help!" MacBeth shouted over the chaos to the gargoyle Demona. There was a burning vehicle, the occupants were alive, but badly burnt. He had to get them out before the fuel line caught fire. The fire made the door hot and difficult to open.

"What?" Demona yelled, confused and not anxious to leave her hiding place.

"I need you to rip that door off!" He referred to the other side of the automobile. MacBeth got the door open, but not without burning his hand first. He helped the occupants in the back seat out. The passenger in the front was still trapped, unable to open the door.

"Why should I help?" Demona growled. MacBeth gave her a dirty look while he helped the other victims.

"Just do it!"

"But..." knowing that his hand was burnt by the pain swelling in her own hand and that the car was ready to blow, she wasn't thrilled to help some humans that would probably reject her for her appearance anyway.

"Do it or you'll walk home!" He said angrily.

Demona couldn't believe she was helping save some humans but MacBeth introduced to her some of his values that day he had learned as a king: honor, respect and chivalry.

They spent one day in Moscow but they didn't look around the economy troubled country long. MacBeth decided to get some sleep early in the evening and woke around five in the morning. At the time, the hover jet was parked on the top of a closed parking garage.

Demona would normally get a little sleep about the same time he did, but she didn't need as much as he did. While MacBeth slept, he encouraged Demona to get out and experience the world but more often, he'd wake up to find her cruising the Internet or enjoying hacking into his databases on his computer in the jet. His database contained the collected information on gargoyles, various information pertaining to MacBeth's lifetime and information for his European History class.

"What are you looking for?" MacBeth asked, not pleased to see her going through his database that morning. He sat down in the other chair in the cockpit of his jet and started to drink some tea, keeping an eye on the gargoyle while she breezed through his database.

"Just reading about your record of your lifetime."

"Interesting?" He asked with disfavor.

"Oh, the part from where you tell about how I betrayed you and all, real interesting," she sounded angry, but calm, so MacBeth didn't have reason to stop sipping his tea.

"Uh huh. Well, have ye learned anything?"

"Well, you tried to claim your right to the throne of Scotland twice after the death of your son and once tried to claim right to the throne of England." Demona harassed.

"Yer point?" He growled, irritated.

"You also attempted to become a powerful sorcerer using magic from some stolen ancient Celtic amulets, Merlyn scrolls and many stolen books."

"And you were any better?" He defended. "At least I did not turn an entire city to stone with the magic I practiced. How about that time you created a virus to kill all humans? You were the cause of the virus, it would have slain me, and therefore yourself! 'Tis not like aither of us accomplished our desired goals."

"Not to mention your attempt to steal Pendragon and the Stone of Destiny." She criticized.

"And what did stealing Titania's mirror get you besides humiliation and turning you into a pathetic human during the day?"

Demona's eyes to glow red. "Hey, that pathetic shell isn't so bad!" she defended humans as if she weren't addressing one.

"Helping to create the Cold Clan and Thailog's Clone Clan only gave Goliath new allies. Of all the spells you have cast, all the power you have tried to gain...has gained you nothing, not even your pathetic revenge!"

"And where are you?" she started shouting, "All you've tried, spending eternity trying to commit suicide.. and now you're nothing but a lost old, immortal man with no employees... you tried for centuries to find happiness and failed. Now you're doomed to be lonely for the rest of eternity. Yes, you're lonely, admit it. When I'm near you I can sense you pain, including your loneliness, I'm sure you know what I mean."

"Aye, but you are in the exact same situation, lonely, friendless and miserable." MacBeth didn't raise his voice as loud as Demona had hers "You are still nothing but a pathetic animal at the bottom of the food chain, still the hunted. You scavenged for centuries because you refused to be helped by humans." MacBeth barely had time to put down his mug before the gargoyle threw the punch.

"Ow!" They both said. MacBeth grabbed her and started to force her around but she stopped him. She threw him in the opposite direction, and he hit the bulkhead. He came back to push her over the co-pilot's chair. She got back up and scratched him multiple times giving him gashing wounds with her sharp claws. He wrestled her, trying to keep her claws away from him.

MacBeth rolled her round until he could put his elbow to her side and put his weight into the elbow. The blue gargoyle swiftly release from his grip, causing him to fall to the floor, and then she pushed him against the bulkhead. She immediately grabbed him and started pulling his right arm around his back so it hurt. She was sure to use her left arm for her right arm began to hurt along with MacBeth's. Finally, the pain became unbearable and she let go of his arm and just tried to hold him, her arm binding him around his neck. He was able to free an arm enough to punch her in the face and then elbowing her hard in the side. She responded by pulling him up and throwing him against the wall. There she held him for a seemingly long, irritating pause as all they did was stare at each other with grimacing looks.

Then MacBeth did something that surprised both. Despite being held back, he reached his head forward and gently kissed her. Much to even more of a surprise, she let him.

After the worlds longest second, they suddenly realized what just happened and pulled away from each other. In the brief second, a million confused and dirty looks passed between them. Then, just as MacBeth was sure she was going punch him, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Finally they pushed each other away at the same time. There was a pause, then dirty looks of blaming the other and finally they just turned away from each other,

Thoughts

MacBeth lost any sense of logic he had and gently reach around his captive's neck. He softly pulled her close to him as he kissed her on her lips. It lasted for only a moment, but in that moment MacBeth felt dizzy, like the only thing the world that existed was the woman which he held so close to him. She was so close, he could feel her blood pumping and her emotions: confused.

They pulled away from each other, Demona turned away. _What have I done? What's stopping this from being like last time? How do I know this isn't just another spell?_ The thoughts ran through both their minds which were not yet clear. The situation was truly awkward now. The new human emotions were too much for Demona to handle and her eyes began to tear; she tried to hide her face form MacBeth. Finally he got up and said in a voice that showed that he was still angry with himself but tried to calm down, "I am going get some ice cream, do you want some."

On the walk back from the quaint ice cream shop, MacBeth thought. Why was he letting himself fall in love again? Was it love? With the woman that betrayed his love eight years ago and his loyalty some nine centuries or so years back nonetheless. How did he know this wasn't just another trick, another game to take advantage of him? How did he know he wasn't under a spell, being used like he was for the rest of his endless existence? How could he actually have left himself believe for a moment that she loved him?

MacBeth brought back a strawberry-cheesecake and a mint chocolate-chip flavored sundaes for his distressed friend. She was sitting on her bed in her quarters (quarters that were designed for Coreen, MacBeth's former lady employee) wrapped in a blanket even though the weather did not suggest need for it. Her windows were covered, blocking the mid-morning sun.

"Here," He handed the sundaes to Demona. She accepted them and began eating without a word. He sat next to her on the bed and stared into the darkened room.

MacBeth swallowed, he didn't know how to help her mood. She was lost in thought, he could tell that by looking at her, but he didn't need to look at her to know she wasn't happy. He breathed in and out and said, "Do you want to talk?"

_No, _She thought, she didn't want to be anywhere near him, but she just nibbled at her ice cream and mumbled, "I'm new at these human emotions."

"Are they so different from gargoyles?"

"A bit, human females are more sensitive."

MacBeth tried not to interrupt but Demona, in a way, wished he would.

"You introduced me to those emotions in Paris." Demona continued, her eyes fixed on the wall. MacBeth was surprised to hear that. "You never did get over Dominique did you?"

"The truth is I beat myself up for centuries because I wasn't there for Gruoch when she died. It wasn't until I met Mary that I finally felt reconciled with Gruoch's death."

"And it wasn't until you met Dominique that you finally felt over Mary's death?" Demona guessed.

"Well, we did have a lot in common." MacBeth gave a deep sigh. It was the first conversation they had had in a long time that didn't have any harsh undertones to it. MacBeth nodded solemnly. "Funny thing about the Wyrd Sister's spell, normal people and gargoyles can get over their mistakes."

"But we... we can hold a grudge or guilt for centuries." MacBeth finished. A pause of understanding.

"Even though I didn't really love Thailog all that much," Demona hesitated, "it felt nice to have someone, after so long, one thousand years, of having no one... and being rejected by Goliath."

MacBeth picked up her hand, "and then Thailog never loved you either?" Demona looked away but he could feel her pain. He kissed her on the hand and then just held it in a more friendly than romantic way. Such a gesture of simple comfort was unfamiliar to Demona. She stood up quickly, uncomfortable, she longed to be held but at the same time, she couldn't believe that she felt that way. She left the room, MacBeth could feel her struggle with her emotions and he was left sitting on the bed alone. He sighed rather angrily and felt like an idiot. He finally got up, set in a course, and the two acted as if nothing had happened.


	4. Chapter 4: A Change in Priorities

_**Alone Chapter Four: A Change in Priorities**_

After stopping by a small cemetery a ways outside of Milan, Italy to pay respect to some old friends of MacBeth's, they decided to explore the ancient ruins of Rome.

"Some how, I like visiting these places that are older than we are," MacBeth noted as the pair walked under an ancient aqueduct.

"Huh, looks like a protest." Demona grunted as they walked by the Pantheon. There were swarms of people, surrounded by police who were trying to ensure a peaceful protest. There were humans holding up signs and shouting in Italian.

"'Tis an anti-gargoyle protest." MacBeth stated with interest in his voice. Demona's expression said 'really?' as MacBeth went on to translate the signs. "'It is our world'; 'Darwinism, Natural Selection'; 'They are savages, monsters'" MacBeth stopped reading the signs when he saw her eyes turn red and could feel her fill with anger. "We should leave."

"And let them continue with this!"

"They have a right to have opinions, however misinformed they may be."

Demona grumbled, MacBeth was about to continue arguing when they turned to see a blast of light. The words 'They will overcome us and destroy our way of life!' in Italian, streamed a crossed the sky in a fantastic display.

"Those were no special effects!" Demona yelled over the boom of the display.

"Magic!" MacBeth and Demona were too familiar with the magic of fays, it was as if they could smell it. The humans thought the display to be no more than a technological demonstration. Uncomfortably, MacBeth said, "I dohn like this."

"MacBeth look!" Demona pointed to the top of the Pantheon. They could make out figures of gargoyles, real stone ones.

"I dinna know there were gargoyles in Rome."

"Something could happen to them."

Another crowd approached the restless anti-gargoyle protesters. The other crowd seemed to be fans of the protectors atop the ancient building. Maybe not fans, but against destroying the gargoyles. They argued that they at least had rights, that they had been protecting the city of Rome, that it was wrong to kill them.

The crowds quickly erupted into a riot. The human police called in reinforcements. Anti-gargoyle protesters began to climb to the top of the Pantheon.

"Ok," MacBeth decided, "Now we stop them."

Demona immediately grabbed the large gun which hung from her belt and you wonder how she possibly hid it in the first place.

"Wait," MacBeth halted her, "we canna fire the first shots." Elsewhere a gun was heard going off, so Demona shot at one of the humans who approached one of the statues.

"Here," MacBeth handed Demona an anchor-and-rope launcher he kept in his collection under his trench-coat, "-_try-_ not to kill anyone."

A man in the middle of the crowd noticed MacBeth and Demona headed to protect the stone gargoyles and shouted, "there they are, that's the two." Demona and MacBeth just looked at each other and the man, confused. Suddenly the man and a two other men's olive skin tone melted away to glowing, colorful skin tones and they grew some. The fays shot magic blast toward the duo, broke MacBeth's rope and cause him fall to the ground. The pain from MacBeth's impact with the ground was enough to make Demona loose grip on her rope and she fell also.

MacBeth sat up quickly and analyzed the situation. "Demona, stop the humans left on the roof, but try not kill them, 'tis not going to help the gargoyles' cause if we kill their attackers, after that, go get my hover jet," he handed her the keys, "and bring it back here, it has some iron based weapons. By the time you return, you should be a gargoyle. I'll hold off the children of Oberon until ye return."

Demona climbed up her rope in time to stop some humans from slaughtering defenseless gargoyles. Even though she was just a human, Demona was able to use her skill and agility to fight the Italians. She took out one human by tackling him and then kicking him nearly to the edge of the roof. She then pulled out her gun and blasted another human, trying, but not too hard, not to kill him. When the last of the humans had been stopped, Demona looked at her stone companions and simply said, "You're a lot of help." Moments later she was taken by a sudden jolt of pain. She raced to the edge to see MacBeth being attacked by the fays. She set her gun to high and blasted the fays, draining some of their energy even though her weapon was not iron based, distracting them long enough. Demona quickly rushed to MacBeth's side and took him to cover.

"I'll be alright, just get the jet." MacBeth panted.

"You be careful!" Demona said forcefully, "fays put this spell of immortality on us, they can take it off!"

"Go!"

Most of the humans had left the scene. Some policemen still remained, but could do nothing against the great magical entity. After Demona had taken off, the wall protecting MacBeth was demolished. MacBeth started blasting the fays with his own weapon, but it had little affect. The two sidekick fays released magic which destroyed MacBeth's gun and wrapped around the human, binding him captive. MacBeth heard one of the observing police officers say something about Mars. He realized that the officer was referring to the main fay, Roman god of war. His Greek counterpart, Ares, is the brother of Eris, so he **-was-** part of the same group of fays as Eris, that seemed so against Gargoyles. But that didn't explain why MacBeth was the one caught.

"What do ye want with me?" MacBeth shouted to his captors.

"This world, human world, shouldn't have gargoyles interfering." was Mars' reply.

"Aye! What does that have to do with me?" The fays did not reply

MacBeth turned his head to the watching police officers. "Shoot him!" MacBeth shouted in Italian, hoping some of their bullets might contain iron. It worked, the bullets drained enough energy that MacBeth was able to break free.

"Run!" MacBeth shouted before any of the officers were hurt. MacBeth saw a wheelbarrow. He quickly guessed from the rust that it was made of iron, so he took it and thrust it toward the fays. His guess was right and it crashed into one of the sidekicks, weakening him severely. The other two chased after MacBeth. _ i Why are they attacking me instead of the stone gargoyles/i _ MacBeth ran into a small shop.

"What have you that is iron?" He panted in Italian as he threw some cash on the counter. The confused store owner handed him a cast-iron skillet. "Good, I will take two." He took one, broke it on the floor and picked up the pieces. As soon as he was outside, a flash of pain struck MacBeth, not very strong and MacBeth recognized it as Demona's metamorphosis pain. He looked around, expecting her near, but didn't see her.

MacBeth threw the whole skillet at the sidekick who soon would have been right on top of him. He then started shoving the pieces of skillet into the nozzle of his spare gun and shot the projectiles at the fays. He kept repeating that until the sidekick became smaller and smaller until he vanished into a puff of smoke. _I killed him?_ Confused MacBeth had never done that to an immortal before. But he did not dwell on that long. The Roman gargoyles had come to life and Mars began attacking them, MacBeth had to help. Before MacBeth reached the Pantheon again, his hover jet arrived. Demona set it to hover near the roof of the temple and started handing out iron weapons to the gargoyles she had never met. Though Demona was a stranger, they hoped they could trust a fellow gargoyle, but they knew they could

help someone giving them free guns. The gargoyles started circling Mars and the remaining sidekick, firing at them and weakening them.

Demona flew down, picked up MacBeth and brought him to the top of the Pantheon. MacBeth ran into his jet and brought back an iron chain from his collection. He grabbed Demona's iron based gun and handed her the chain. The Scot started shooting at the fays as Demona signaled to another gargoyle, and the two flew down, circled the weak magical entities and bound them with the iron so they could not escape.

After the fays were bound, the gargoyle who helped Demona asked in Latin, a language she could speak, "Who are they?"

"There's a group of fays who are out to kill gargoyles for some reason." Demona explained. They rejoined the group on the roof where MacBeth was explaining.

"You might want to collect up some iron weapon to fight them in the future," MacBeth explained as he collected his own. They discussed the situation with these Italian gargoyles some more but they didn't come to any conclusions to why the fays had attacked them or what their purpose was.

MacBeth was rummaging through the Internet when Demona woke up from her short sleep.

"What are you looking for?" Human Demona asked in her usual unfriendly tone as she approached the Internet surfer.

"Oh, I just hacked into the Xanatos Database, looking at what has happened back in New York."

"Oh, is that all?"

"Brooklyn married Patch."

"Really," she said sardonically. Demona didn't care much for Patch, a human who was turned into a gargoyle during nights. "Good luck on them having any kids."

MacBeth ignored her comment. "There was another fay attack."

"Really?' She said obviously concerned."Who was it?"

"Banshee was the only one Goliath's clan could identify. They weren't as strong as Eris apparently so they were able to defeat them with out any casualties. Bronx was severely injured, apparently, due to Banshee's grudge against him."

MacBeth could sense the feeling of relief that came over Demona when she knew that Angela was alright.

"They still don't know what is provoking the attacks." MacBeth breezed through the data as Demona pondered the fay situation. "Well, here is something that may interest you." MacBeth broke the silence. "Angela has an egg due to hatch next April."

Demona's eye widened, "Really? But a-, that would mean..."

"Congratulations grandmother." MacBeth smiled with sarcasm as he slapped her on the back. Demona glared at him and smacked his hand.

"I wonder if she will let me see my grandchild," she grumbled.

"Give her a chance. People tend to get senselessly happy when they have a child," he spoke from experience, smiling with happy memories.

"Where are we going?" Demona asked.

"Germany." MacBeth informed. Demona gave an agreeable smirk.

"Funny how a country with so much hate directed toward it in the past and yet, neither of us have any regrets or dark memories for the place, unlike many other places."

"Well, I found that a fort in North Germany I had visited sometime in the 1200's is still intact as a tourist attraction. We should arrive after closing time."

MacBeth set the jet down on a beach at the base of a cliff on the edge of the Nord See. Demona stepped out and the ocean breeze caught her hair, it felt nice. She took in a deep breath, smelling the air, the memories of the time she had spent in Germany came back to her. They weren't exactly good memories, but it was a time of peace, when she was free of the Hunters for a time.

MacBeth approached the cliffs and shot a rope-and-anchor to the top of the cliff. Demona looked hesitant.

"What is it?" MacBeth questioned. "Too far of a climb?"

"As a gargoyle, it would be a piece of cake." MacBeth beckoned to her and she wrapped her arms around his neck as MacBeth climbed to the top of the cliff. It was the first time they had been that close since Russia. They climbed to the top of the small fortress and watched the sun fall lower in the sky.

"So what brought you to Germany?" Demona inquired.

"No reason in particular, I was trying to find my place in the world. My main purpose was to hunt you down, I wanted to find something to do in the meantime. I didn't find much except I remember the sunset at this fort. What brought you to Germany?"

"I was actually looking up on the German legend of trolls, I thought they might be gargoyles." There was a long pause as they listened to the wind and the crickets as they watched the waves crash on the beach below. Their thoughts began to wander.

"What?" MacBeth said suddenly. Demona looked up at him to discover he was watching her. "'Tis the strangest sensation, I can sense the battle within you."

Demona, surprised at that, thought back to what she was thinking when he interrupted... she was actually trying to convince herself not to become friends with MacBeth. MacBeth continued, "what is it? Tell me. I've found that talking to someone about what's-bothering-me is something I've missed the most about having friends. Tell me," he said forcefully, "even if I am a miserable old man who hates you." He said that seriously despite the irony of the whole statement.

Demona hesitated, but after a long pause, she sighed and started, "that's what I was fighting myself about...friends."

MacBeth had forgotten that he had just referred to this woman he hated as his friend. "I suppose you understand why I'm so reluctant to make them."

He too a deep breath. "Aye... yer last friend was Thailog was he not? That ended... badly..." They both stared at the ocean. His face went cross, "I can only imagine what 'tis like to be completely convinced that someone's in love with you only to have that love stab ye in the back."

Demona sighed bitterly and rolled her eyes, knowing that he was referring again to how she betrayed him in Paris, "look at me, you can sense my feelings, I know you can, because I can sense yours...doesn't anything I'm feeling tell you that I'm not planning on deceiving you this time?"

"This time but what about ever again?"

"I don't know what's going to happen in the future," she defended angrily, "a lot can happen in a long time."

"Oh, so you're not going to stab me in the back today but you might tomorrow."

"I might!" Demona stood up. "What do you expect from me? Time and time again, an alliance with a human has failed for me and now you except me to be friends with you?"

"I never said I wanted you to be friends with me!" MacBeth stood up too. "Besides, the only reason our alliance dinna work is because others got in the way! Well, that and yer biased... Besides, members of yer own kind canna even trust you! How long is it going to be before you leave yer daughter in the dirt too!" Demona growled, eyes red and lunged on MacBeth, forcing him to the roof floor. MacBeth didn't fight.

"That is not true, I would never hurt my daughter!"

"Aye, but hurting her father, her friends, is hurting her!"

"Do you really think that I would sink so low as to hurt my child?"

"I dohn know, you killed mine!"

Demona froze, her eye returned to normal. Still holding MacBeth to the floor of the fort roof, she said, "Wha...I didn't kill your son."

"Nay, but Canmore did, yer 'ally'." Demona release MacBeth and started to pace. "Ye abandoned me and my son to him."

"I..." Demona didn't really know what to say, she hasn't realized that he blamed her for Luach's death. She could feel the hurt MacBeth felt at the death of his son centuries ago and understood, knowing that how much it would hurt for her to loose Angela. "I was prejudice, convinced that you were going to kill my clan... so I... lost consideration for your clan."

"I was not going..." MacBeth said angrily impatient.

"I know!" Anger built up in her, but anger towards who? "I can sense your feelings, I believe you that it was a misunderstanding. Maybe that was why this sense sharing spell was put on us..."

"So we can understand each other." MacBeth got up off the floor of the roof and sighed. "So we can finally know when to trust each other, after so long of doubt, anger and hate." He slowly walked over to her,

Demona kept her eyes fixed on the sunset, "never again will I be able to deceive you."

"Then a truce," MacBeth offered his hand, "that we will from this day forward, always be able to simply _trust_ each other, whether we like it or not?" Demona looked at him, and frankly, he was right, with this spell they recently discovered, they didn't have much of a choice anymore. She accepted the handshake.

MacBeth held on the handshake, looking into Demona's eyes. It was odd, this truce, that they had already made it at the beginning of the summer but now they finally vocally admitted the truce. "How does it feel to have a friend you know you can actually trust?"

"'Friend?'" Demona pulled her hand out of the shake, "I wouldn't go that far."

"I'm not the one who needs friends here, remember," MacBeth still faced her, but she had turned away, "I have Sir Griff and King Arthur, and many co-workers at the school--"

"But you are a lie to your co-worker 'friends'." Demona turned to face him, waving her arms angrily at him, "if you told them that you were really King MacBeth of Scotland they'd send you to an asylum in an instant!"

MacBeth suddenly grabbed Demona's flinging arm and pulled her closer. She didn't fight him which surprised herself more than it surprised him. She let his lips just gently touch hers before she turned away forcefully. She took several steps away as MacBeth said, "I'm sure even Goliath thinks I should be in an asylum."

Now she understood what is was he needed. They had not talked or made reference to what happened in Russia and she told herself she didn't want to think about it, but she did anyway. i _I had been hungry for comfort at the time, that is all, I hate him. Have I learned anything? You'd think after this long I would have. After the captain of the guard, or Canmore... or Thailog and Goliath, what a fool I am, why don't I learn?_ /i

MacBeth could sense her sudden depression and embarrassed he too turned away. He walked to the edge of the fort and put his foot up on the edge and rested his arm on his knee. As her thoughts cleared, Demona looked at the gray-haired man. His expression on his face alone showed feelings of regret but she could also sense that he felt lonely too, so lonely that she could sense pain in his chest.

After a pause of only the sound of crickets and the waves crashing on the beach below.

"Marry me?" he said suddenly. She turned around quickly with surprise.

"What!" The shock evident in her voice, "I think you have more spells on you than you think!"

"Do I?" He kept his eyes on the sea.

"A moment ago you just accused me of killing you son!" She had good reason for her confusion. "Maybe I should be the one turning you into the asylum!"

"Aye," MacBeth grumbled, "but I know I can trust you now!" He kept his eyes on the waves. "I know that not just because of our shared pain and emotions, but also because I know you...I know you like no mortal on the Earth can. And because I love you."

Shocked by this compliment, Demona hesitated, thoughts running through her mind like freeway traffic. Thoughts of other males who had said the same flashed through her mind, but she believed MacBeth, more than just wanting to believe she could be loved. After a pause Demona turned to go be by herself. "Wait." MacBeth stopped her. "Ye are only leaving because it is what you think you want.. to be alone, because it is what you have always done." Demona stopped walking but didn't turn around. MacBeth walked up behind her. "Please Demona, you don't have to be alone anymore." He put one hand on her shoulder and the other hand he ran down her other arm. "I dohn want to be alone anymore." Demona breathed deep, the fight within herself was strong, and then she pulled way forcefully. MacBeth grabbed her arm, not gently and turn her around. "Demona! ...let go." They just looked at each other for a moment as MacBeth sensed her feelings such longing, loneliness and anger, anger at him and herself. Demona pushed him and walked away. MacBeth sighed deeply, and turned back to face the sunset as he considered jumping.

MacBeth followed Demona as she approached the edge of a cliff before a hole cut in the ground. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and he watched and waited, not sure what she was going to do next. They said nothing as the wind blew and the rain fell.

Finally, MacBeth said quietly, "So this is where Castle Wyvern was?" Demona said nothing.

They walked to a ledge where below was another ledge. "That's where I hid to escape the Vikings. It's eroded some over the years." Demona spoke coldly and distantly. Demona continued to wander about the place, and MacBeth followed at a distance. Her attitude brightened as they approached a stone door, "Ah, the rockery. Granted the hatchlings were to look on the whole clan as their parents, still, many mothers would often come down and check on their eggs." She smiled sadly. "I made friends with Brooklyn's mother down there."

They walked up a nearby hill and climbed to the top of some steep rock formations. MacBeth wanted to ask her what this was, but didn't. She told him anyway. "This...this was Goliath's and my favorite spot." She laughed to herself through her melancholy, "I taught him to fly here." MacBeth stuffed his hands deeper into his pockets. "We grew up together... and then the Vikings and the magus and...I guess me." Demona hesitated, so did MacBeth, the feelings that came over him were more like anger but he didn't like the guilt that was coming over Demona. Guilt was almost a new sensation to her, for one of the only times in her 1000 year life, she admitted fault to something. The gargoyle dropped to her knees and began to cry. MacBeth turned away uncomfortable.

"Did I really change that much over the centuries?" Demona asked no one, Her mind raced..

"You changed over the last months." MacBeth muttered under his breath, head down. Demona sighed deeply and walked off. MacBeth continued staring at the same patch of ground.

The jet was parked in a small, quiet park in northern England. It was early morning and MacBeth was reading. Demona entered the cockpit with some tea. She handed him a mug and sat in the co-pilot chair.

"What are you reading?" Demona inquired. It was the first time they had casually spoken for a couple days.

MacBeth cleared his throat, nervous because the woman he had proposed to was speaking to him again. He started casually, "History, August is coming up and I need to start getting prepared for school to start again. I'm sure I've missed a few faculty meetings already."

"What are you teaching this next year?" She asked calmly as she sipped her tea, sighing as she breathed.

"A few of the same classes, the Junior European History classes, a couple freshman American History classes, but I'm teaching Advanced Placement World History this year, I need to get ready for that. But I should know most of the students in the class, I had them as students last year."

Demona, patiently and quietly, nodded in agreement as she let him continue and waited. MacBeth looked at the curriculum book as he took a sip of the tea. He got a whiff of something so he put the mug close to his nose to smell the tea. He recognized the smell. Shocked, he looked up at Demona, who could sense the feelings of anger and betrayal come over him before he lost consciousness. Demona caught his mug of tea just in time before it spilled. She gave out her evil chuckle as if she had always wanted to do it.

"Oh, I thought you said you trusted me?" She mocked. Then she laughed again as she pushed him from the pilot chair and let him fall to the floor. She didn't think too much about how he had recognized the smell of the drug she had put in the tea; the things one can learn from simply living forever. Demona assumed the chair and set in the course.

He woke with a headache, and his stomach didn't feel at ease either. He rose from the deck of his jet, angry, with a determination to share this headache with the one who had caused it. Filled with feelings of betrayal, anger and a slight hangover, He stepped out of the jet onto the roof of an older building. A breeze caught him and a mist of rain was carried with it. He walked to the edge where he finally recognized where he was, castle Moray, his castle! It had been a long time. He looked at the changes that had occurred. The building was worn, old, but fixed up slightly. Below the kingdom looked like the typical modern suburb rather than the medieval villages that were once under his jurisdiction.

He found an entrance to his old home and found that it had been repaired after the damage that had been inflicted on it the last time her was there. He discovered that the building was now a museum, which pleased him, there were worse thing that could happen to his childhood home, some rich actor or singer could have purchased it for his mansion or whatever. He drew his gun and entered each room cautiously, gun before him, knowing that his arch-nemesis would have a trap ready for him. Feeling like he had nothing left anymore, he just wanted to end it.

Different rooms told the stories of different rulers of the kingdom, such as Duncan his cousin, Findlaech his father, and Gillcomgain his father's murder. The Museum also discussed changes over time, what life was like in the dark ages and so on and had several artifacts, paintings, treasures and other items to be displayed behind glass. The museum was empty, on a Friday, that didn't make sense. MacBeth searched the museum for the human gargoyle he was out to kill until he was hit by an unexpected surprise.

MacBeth stood at the doorway stunned for a moment, trying to comprehend what was before him. He blinked. The room was dedicated to him and his family. In the corner stood people who he guessed to be museum employees and in the center of the room was Demona, at whom he pointed his weapon. Suddenly, he laughed. Above, a banner stretched across the room, "Happy Birthday!" and under that, "1000 years."

Demona was standing under the banner with her hands on her hips. "Happy birthday, your majesty," she said.

MacBeth's mouth just hung open. He stood there in shock for several moments. He looked at the historic paintings, the banner, the confused employees, the small wrapped gifts in the corner, and then finally to his traitor, at whom he looked at even more confused. Demona cleared her throat nervously. She could tell she was gonna have to walk him through this one. "Here," she said, and tossed him one of the small wrapped package.

"It's a gift," She informed him after he started at it for a little while, "unwrap it." She ordered.

And so he did. He removed the paper and Styrofoam for find a small porcelain duplicate of the castle. His eyes brightened as if he had never seen anything more precious.

"Wha-Where..." He paused and looked at Demona, "Why?"

She laughed, "It's your birthday! Isn't it human tradition to throw a party and give gifts?"

"Birthday?" MacBeth was slow today.

"According to your database, you were born on July 23, 1004." She laughed, "What do you think I do on your computer while you sleep?"

"1000 years?" MacBeth questioned.

Demona nodded and smiled.

"Really?" He relaxed, "I lost track around 36. "

"It was an amazingly convenient coincidence." Demona smirked, "Too convenient to pass up. At least there's a record of your age, I have no idea how old I am."

"Older than 1000 years of age." He chuckled, "Where's the cake and ice cream?"

"And I am up on my human traditions?" Demona grumbled.

MacBeth chuckled softly again as he looked at the displays for the family. "They talk both about what was recorded in history and Shakespear's play, both make Duncan sound like the good guy," Demona stated with distaste and then growled with eyes red, "and out of all the humans...he must have been the _most_ treacherous!"

MacBeth looked again at the little castle he had in his hand. "Where did you get this?"

Demona shrugged, "The gift shop."

MacBeth opened another. It was an ancient crest of the family of Findlaech of clan Moray. It was small, there were more than one of these, it was the type that would have been worn on clothing. He still had his one that signified the king of Scotland. But this small item couldn't have been cheap. "How did you pay for this, for the rent of the museum?" Demona didn't need to answer. She didn't need to, he knew that Demona was sole owner of NightStone Unlimited. He opened another gift. This one was a sword that used to decorate a hall of the castle. It was beautifully engraved, not meant to be used as a weapon. "How many priceless artifacts did you buy from the museum?"

"Just those two. The last one is also from the gift shop." MacBeth opened it. It was a small, photograph size duplicate of the grand painting of King MacBeth, his Queen Gruoch and son, Luach, that hung in that room. It was old style painting, two-dimensional medieval style. He smiled at the little painting in deep thought, memories flowing back.

His thoughts were interrupted when Demona asked, "What do you buy a man who has everything?"

He blinked and then smirked slightly nodded and gave a soft chuckle, "Aye, I suppose yer right. This..." he sighed deeply and said, "Only you would know what to get."

Demona responded quietly, "I probably am." Then she lightened the mood, "Besides, everyone else would have probably just gotten you guns!"

"I wouldn't mind those either," He smirked. She laughed in agreement.

After Demona collected up his things, MacBeth thanked the castle employees, told them it was good to be home and left them to enjoy their confusion.

As the pair entered the jet, Demona sat down as set the next course into the computer. MacBeth hesitated in his footsteps. He still held in his hand the little porcelain model of the castle and he looked over it with his hands.

"Why?" He asked suddenly. Demona looked up from the pilot chair asked 'what?' with her hands. "This. This is the first birthday party I've had in a long time. And... it really meant a lot to me."

Demona looked back down at the controls and smiled. "Well, don't expect this to happen next year!"

He chuckled, "Aye, what is 1001?" After a pause he added, "Seriously, why did you do it?"

She gave him a look and said, "Why not?" Then she turned and looked out the window and said hesitantly, "Do I have to have a reason to do something for someone?"

"Well, forgive me for saying so, but usually, with you, it's the opposite."

Demona kept her eyes away from him. "Eh." She paused, "my priorities changed."

MacBeth sat down in the co-pilot chair and looked at her despite the fact that she refused to look at him. "Have they?" When she said nothing he continued, "This must have taken you a while to prepare." She still said nothing and stared out the window or pretended to work on controlling the vessel. MacBeth got frustrated and moved to get up by pushing off her shoulder. Instinctively her hand met his hand to stop him.

"Isn't that what friends do?" Demona asked hesitantly. MacBeth sat back down, hand still on her shoulder. "Is it so strange that friends would want...to do things for each other?"

MacBeth took her hand into his. "Friends?" He asked hopefully.

"Friends," she smiled, giving his hand a squeeze. They looked at each other for another moment, holding their breath, waiting for the other to make the next move. So Demona did. She let go of MacBeth's hand and put her arms around his neck and leaned forward and hugged him. MacBeth stood up, he pulled Demona with him. He took her, held her, and kissed her.

"Griff?"

"'ello?"

"Good day, 'Tis MacBeth, I'm amazed I was able get a hold of ye!"

"Well, the cell phone was actually given to King Arthur by David Xanatos, but I'm slightly more familiar with some of this technology than he is, which is ironic considering how many years I'm behind..."

"Is Arthur there? Can I talk to him?"

"Right-O"

"MacBeth?"

"Hello Arthur"

"Why, hello, have not seen you in a while. We are actually in Denmark right now, how have you been?"

"I am in Ireland, I was wondering if you could come to my wedding, be my best man?"

"Why, I'd be delighted. To whom are you getting married?"

"Demona."

"Oh, your life long enemy, how nice..."

Brooklyn and Liberty landed in the courtyard of Castle Wyvern, panting, frightened.

"What's wrong?" Lexington asked his girlfriend.

"We...were...out on... patrol," Liberty said between breaths, she swallowed, " with Angela...and like out of nowhere...and then..." she tried to explain by waving her arms but failed.

"Angela's gone, been captured, something!" Brooklyn explained.

"How did you let this happen to her?" Broadway accused.

"Hey, we've looked everywhere, we need your help."

Angela regained consciousness. She was on a hover jet, alone except for the pilot, but what most surprised her was that she had no restraints, she was not being treated like a prisoner. She noticed that they were flying over ocean. She quietly tried to sneak to an exit. The pilot heard her moving.

"Ah, ye aire awake!" He turned so she could see him.

"MacBeth?"

"Do not worry, all things will be explained. First of all, I have some questions for you."

"Why did you capture me? You've been our ally since Paris, betray us now?"

"First of all, you are not my prisoner, just say the word, and I'll take you home, but hear me out first. Tell, me, what do you think of Demona?"

"What do you mean? She's my mother?"

"Yes, but do you hate her?"

Angela, still believing that MacBeth and Demona were still life long enemies, started defending her, "Don't think I'm going to do anything to help you, we may not always get along, but she's still my mother."

"Are you her ally or her enemy?"

"The other gargoyles may not want her as an ally but she's certainly not _my_ enemy."

"Do you love her?"

"Sometimes."

"Why did you not tell her about your marriage to Broadway?"

Confused how he knew about that, she didn't question it. "That was actually Broadway's idea," she hung her head low, "I wanted to invite her to the wedding, but she and Father wouldn't have gotten along."

"How long have you been married?"

Not questioning why her interrogator wanted to know that, she answered, "three years."

"And you still have not told her?"

"I wasn't sure how she would take it."

"How about your egg, when were you planning on telling her she was a grandmother?"

"How did you..? Why do you want to know?"

"I want to see if I can trust you, answer the question."

"Actually, I want her to be there when it hatches. What does that have to do with trusting me?"

"Can I trust you?"

"With what?"

"Can I trust you? Can I trust you with something that your mother would want you to know but she would not want Goliath or any of the clan to know." He turned to the piloting consol so he wasn't facing Angela.

"What do you know of my mother?"

"Do not act so surprised, we have countless things in common."

"Can you explain what is going on?"

"Can I trust, not to tell your clan?"

"That depends what it is that is going on?"

MacBeth sighed, he didn't know how to say it, "We are getting married?"

"What?" she asked confused.

"Demona and I, in Ireland."

"What!" she asked again but shocked.

MacBeth continued, "Seeing as ye aire Demona's only friend other than myself, she'll want ye to be her matron of honor. Will ye do it or do ye want me to go back to New York?"

"But...how... that's impossible! After Paris, you have got to be kidding!"

"I know what you must be thinking..."

"You trust her? After last time? After what she did to you? Are you crazy, a fool?"

"Maybe I am. We sometimes do foolish things when we are in love."

"In love! How can you love someone that has been trying to kill you for centuries? Are you sure you're not under a spell, that the Wyrd Sisters don't have more plans for you?"

"Yes, I have wondered that many times and I am not sure how to be positive I am not under a spell. Let me explain, four months ago, we met again at the battle with Eris. A month later we were in a fight at Central Park where we again tried to kill each other. In the end, we came to the first truce that we have in centuries, we agreed that it was all a misunderstanding, well, come to think of it, I don't know if we ever agreed on that... But in any case, we started talking, spending time together because, well, there is no other person in this world that understands what we've been through. Like I said before, we have so much in common..."

"I don't believe it." Angela shook her head in annoyance.

"You don't have to, tell me, do you want to go to Ireland, or back to New York, you can talk to Demona when we get there and then try to talk us out of the marriage? Hmm?"

Angela nodded in agreement. There was a pause. "Why did you capture me?"

MacBeth laughed, "because I can just see you now trying to explain what happened to your colleagues. Because I've always wanted to do that? I know, I've been living too long and now have a sick sense of humor."

Angela just smiled. MacBeth grabbed for something in a compartment. It look like some sort of herbs and powder. "Here, eat this."

"Why."

"Trust me."

"After you captured me?" She teased and ate the herb. It tasted horrible. MacBeth threw the powder over her and chanted something in Latin. Angela sneezed, coughed and gagged.

"What was that? What did you do?"

"The wedding is during the day, we cannot very well have a stone Matron of Honor, now can we? Here, this is for the headache."

"You mean, I won't turn to stone?"

"Just for tomorrow, you will be human. There are going to have some unpleasant side-effects, fortunately we have medication these days for that."

"Really? Why haven't I heard of gargoyles using it before? I'm sure father would want to get his hands on this."

"The ingredients are very rare, hard to find, the side effects unpleasant but fortunately there are no permanent side-effects for females. I suggest if your father wants to be human for a day, he should seek out a fay, hopefully one that is not trying to kill him."

"Well, I think he and Elisa have accepted what they are anyway."

"Here," MacBeth handed her a light blue dress. He showed her the dress, "Here are holes for your wings and tail, the cape covers the holes. 'Tis yours."

"Really? I've never owned a dress before."

"These too." MacBeth handed her a string of pearls. MacBeth also found a pair of Demona's shoes in her temporary room which he assumed Angela could borrow.

They landed in a field outside a small, ancient Irish chapel. Sunrise was a few hours away.

"There's a small restroom, an addition to the church, Demona is in there getting ready." Angela gathered her things and left MacBeth to get ready in his jet.

Angela entered the chapel. King Arthur and Sir Griff were inside, setting up the few, modest decorations. They greeted her as she passed to the restroom.

"Mother?" Demona was looking the mirror, doing up her hair.

"Angela? What are you doing here?" Surprised, she smiled and gave her daughter a hug, which pleasantly surprised Angela.

"You mean, MacBeth didn't tell you I was coming?"

Demona smiled broad, "He probably wanted to surprise me. Oh, I'm glad you came," Demona looked her daughter over, whom she had not seen in a while. "I didn't really think you wanted to see me."

"You mean, the whole thing of how I didn't tell you I was getting married?" Angela asked. Demona nodded and tried to not mess up her hair. Angela began helping Demona. "I'm sorry about that, it was Broadway's idea." Try to imagine a purple gargoyle trying to do a blue gargoyle's red hair with large, sharp claws.

"Well, I suppose I understand. Hmph, I probably would have ended up getting in a fight with your father and ruining it for you anyway." Angela was surprised, she'd never heard her mother talk like that before. Usually she would automatically blame Goliath for the fight.

"You're going to be a grandmother, you know that, right?"

"Yes, MacBeth told me."

"How did that happen? I mean really, you're marrying a human?"

"What's so bad about humans? You father wants to marry one too, doesn't he?"

"Come now, mother, how did you end up marrying a member of a species you have tried to kill on numerous occasions?" The two gargoyles continued as they changed into their dresses. "Not to mention he's a man who's had a grudge on you for centuries."

"Well, it started out ... well, I have no idea how it started, but I found myself needing someone to talk to, someone who would really understand, and it kind of went from there. It's amazing what can happen in a short space of time," she laughed to herself, "especially after so long of a time."

"How do you know you're not under a spell? That he isn't trying to play you like your were using him in Paris?"

"Well, the more we have gotten to know each other, the closer friends we became, we began to feel more than just each other's pain, we began to feel emotions. That is how I know I can trust him, and he knows he can trust me. I can also feel him love me. Really knowing someone loves me, that's something I haven't felt since, well, since you were but an egg one thousand years ago. Besides, if it is a spell, believe me dear, there are worse spells to be cast."

Everything was set up, Arthur and Griff started munching on some cookies and punch that were in the corner of the chapel. Angela and Demona just talked as they waited. When MacBeth entered, his sight was immediately directed toward his bride, whom he approached.

"You look enchanting," he told her as he touched her hair. She wore a beautiful but simple wedding dress with a cape and pearls. Her hair was done back in an older fashion hair net with pearls, yet she still wore her crown she always wore. She wore the earrings MacBeth bought her in Japan. MacBeth wore a typical tuxedo with a dark green vest and bow tie.

MacBeth approached King Arthur. "Thank you so much for coming, it is such an honor to have you as my best man."

"The pleasure is mine." The king replied politely. MacBeth moved to Griff.

"I'm afraid I couldn't find a spell to allow you to see the wedding too..."

"That's quite alright, dear boy, I will be here after all, as stone anyway. As long as I get to kiss the bride!" Griff kissed Demona on the cheek before she had a chance to say anything about it. Then he pulled out a camera and started taking pictures of and with everyone in the room.

Sunrise came. Demona's transformation was painful, but Angela's change to human was about as smooth as Griff's change to stone. But as soon as Angela was human, a look of nausea came over her and she ran to the bathroom. Not too much later, the priest entered the chapel along with a small Irish band to play some soothing Irish folk music. When Angela returned from the restroom, MacBeth stopped her in almost a fatherly way and handed her some pills in the most discrete way he could.

The priest came to the center of attention, looked briefly at the stone gargoyle in the middle of the room, thought little of it and began the ceremony.

They were flying back over the Atlantic Ocean. Demona and MacBeth had both gone to their quarters to change into more comfortable clothing and left Angela in the cockpit. MacBeth was finished changing first.

"So, what does it feel like to have me as your step-father?" He sat down in the chair opposite Angela.

"I haven't decided yet, the first time I met you, you were trying to kill me."

"So was Demona."

Angela nodded in agreement. "It will take me a long time to finally understand how my mother married someone who's been trying to kill her for centuries." MacBeth just chuckled, Angela continued, "I mean, I guess I understand how you fell in love with her, you loved her in Paris and didn't even know it, but Mother...I don't understand, I'm afraid I can't imagine her being in love with Father either. I don't really think of my mother as being one of the easiest people to get along with, I mean, I love her and all, but what do you see in her?"

"Well, she really is very beautiful," he paused, "during the day."

"I heard that," Demona said as she entered the cockpit dressed in civilian clothing. She went to the back of MacBeth's chair and put her arms around MacBeth's neck threateningly. "What are you trying to say?"

"That I fell in love with your personality." She threatened his face with her fingernails, just kissed fingers.

"And what do you see in MacBeth, Mother?" Angela teased MacBeth also.

"Hmm," Demona pondered the seemingly difficult question as she looked at him, "well, you have to admire a man who can, after not being in Scotland for a few hundred years, kept his accent."

"Not to mention a grudge." MacBeth razed. Angela blinked.

"Well, it's nice to have someone who won't leave me, for once." Demona smirked evilly.

"That's because we'd kill each other before that happened."

"Exactly!" MacBeth rolled his eyes at his wife. Angela blinked again.

"When will we arrive at New York?" Demona changed the subject.

MacBeth turned to his controls, still with Demona on his neck, "around noon. What do you say, we do lunch, the three of us, and then I leave you two ladies to spend the day together?" Demona nodded in agreement to show they both had been planning that.

"Wait a minute, I don't want to bring you two apart on your wedding day."

"And you will only be human for one day, I don't want to come between my wife and her daughter either." MacBeth explained. "We," looking up at Demona again, "on the other hand, have eternity." Demona gave him a disapproving dirty look and shoved her hand in his face.

The first place Angela and Demona stopped was a clothing shop to pick Angela up some casual clothes she could wear the rest of the day.

"So where's MacBeth?" Angela asked as she strolled through the New York streets in the hot August sun.

"He says he went to go clean up his place. He's had employees for a long time up until a few months ago. I suppose things have begun to run down since then." She chuckled evilly, remembering what _she_ had done to it. "Besides, he hasn't been home for two months. I remember him mentioning that when he returned home after Paris, he found that his security system had been destroyed." Demona changed the subject, "Have you ever walked these streets before?"

"My first Halloween here was the first time. The last Halloweens we didn't go out in the street because people knew about gargoyles and would have rejected us. Now their opening up a bit more..." Demona had to hold her tongue to keep from talking negatively about humans. "What are you going to do for your honeymoon?"

"Well, seeing as we just saw the world, we're not going to go anywhere. I'd like to take it easy for a while anyway." Demona stated. The two human gargoyles jay-walked across the street into the park. "Have you ever been shopping?"

"No, Father probably wouldn't like us to get a lot of possessions and such, 'not the gargoyle way' and all. Besides, Xanatos will buy anything we need."

"There are a lot of things you need to still learn about humans, one of them is that when human females go shopping, it's not about the things, it's about bonding."

Angela chuckled, "Well, I suppose we both have plenty of things to learn about each other." Angela smiled at her mother as they strolled Central Park.

One of Angela's purchases was a camera. After convincing Xanatos' guards that she lived there, Angela rushed up the stories of Xanatos' mansion to see what her friends looked like when they were stone. She put her purchases in her room. She came out to the balcony to take pictures of the stone gargoyles, the sunset and so on. When Patch came home from where she spent her days, Angela posed with her and asked her to take pictures of herself and her mother. In the midst of that, the cat Liberty awoke from her sleep on her stone boyfriend, so Angela decided to take a picture of the two of them too.

"Angela," right before sunset, Demona pulled her daughter out of Patch and Liberty's hearing. "Do you promise not to tell them about my marriage?"

"Promise not to use that secret against them?" Angela sounded determined.

"Alright." Demona gave in, and she sounded like she meant it.

"Then I will." and the hugged each other.

Sunset fell. Demona and Patch both groaned with the pain that came with their transformation and Liberty and Angela both morphed into the original forms. The stone figures broke into gargoyles and immediately Brooklyn and Goliath growled, "Demona!"

"Well, I guess I best be off." Demona told her daughter, "see you later?"

"Later." Angela smiled and Demona took off.

"Angela, darling, you're alright!" Broadway hugged his wife who had been kidnaped the night before.

"What did Demona do?" Goliath demanded.

"We just spent a day together."

"The _day_!"

"What happened?" Broadway held his wife close.

"I promised not to tell. But one day I will be able to explain all of this, I am sure."

"Demona will pay for your capture!" Brooklyn's grudge surfaced.

"I can't believe she would do that!" Goliath growled.

"Hey, father! Would you have let me go spend some time with her if she offered politely?" Angela didn't need to argue it but was frustrated with her clan's bias.

"'Politely' isn't in her vocabulary."

"In other words 'no'!" She stormed off, only letting Broadway follow her.

Demona and MacBeth spent that night moving Demona's belongings from her mansion to his. They decided to go ahead and sell Demona's mansion, "one less thing to dust" was how MacBeth put it after doing a lot of cleaning to his own place apparently.

Not too long before sunrise, as Demona moved a box full of ancient artifacts that she had owned for almost her entire life, MacBeth grabbed her from behind, put his arms around her, and didn't let the gargoyle finish what she was doing.

"So..." he said as he held her close.

"So..." she repeated over her shoulder, looking at him.

"What are we going to do now?" He paused, "Now that we're married?"

"Well, I'm assuming you going to go to the school tomorrow and find out what you've missed and start getting ready for the next school year."

"Hmm, but what about you? Are you going to go back to the usual take-over-the-world, get revenge business?"

"Well," Demona thought about the question a moment, "maybe I'll take a vacation from taking-over-the-world..."

"Who do we have left to get revenge on hmm? Is there still a hunter?"

"There always seems to be one..." Demona turned around in MacBeth's arms to look at him.

"And what of Goliath? I think it would make your daughter happy if you didn't do anything to them for a while." MacBeth took off Demona's crown and started admiring her gargoyle features like her horns, which were similar in shape to her crown, that she always hid.

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

"You could become a teacher. I'm sure you would add an interesting twist to human history, no?" Demona gave him a look of disapproval, he just kissed her on the head. "Maybe you could teach a class about gargoyles. And right along side that you could teach 'Gender Roles.'"

"Gender Roles?" He just laughed as he looked her over. Demona continued, "Besides, I don't think I have the patience for human children."

"'Tis a shame." Rolling her eyes, the blue gargoyle stopped the conversation by kissing her husband. They stayed in each others arms, consumed by the feeling of love, the joy of belonging, of being wanted. They kissed each other until sunrise came and Demona's skin melted to a pale Caucasian tone.

"I know, you could be a lawyer!" MacBeth said suddenly.

"What?"

"Seriously, you could specialize in gargoyle cases. I can probably forge you a high school diploma and arrange for you to test out some early years of college, that's how I did it. If it's something you'd be interested in."

"Why would I be interested in working for the human law system?"

"Because you'd get to yell at humans?" MacBeth suggested.

"Hmm, I'll think about it." She smiled, ran her hand along his neatly trimmed beard.

"What..." His tone became more serious "...what do you look forward to most about married life, hmm?"

"Not being alone..." she replied serious. MacBeth smiled, he knew she would take his answer. _Never again, _they both thought and went back to kissing each other.

_To be continued..._


End file.
